A River (The Clarion) Runs Through It
by Michelle Naccarati-Chapkis
Director, Land Protection

In order for Pennsylvanians to enjoy and appreciate their rivers to their fullest potential, public access to the rivers and their forested corridors is essential. Last December, WPC entered into an agreement with the Pennsylvania Game Commission that will help secure the Clarion River’s deserved reputation as one of the most scenic and recreationally-friendly in the eastern United States.

Through the agreement, WPC will transfer 1,732 wooded acres along the southern shore of the Clarion to the Game Commission. The location of the tract is more significant than its size because it provides a protected link between two existing parcels of public land—State Game Lands 44 in southwestern Elk County and State Game Lands 54 in northeastern Jefferson County. The Game Commission will manage the tract as state game lands for wildlife habitat and public hunting. Game lands regulations also permit other low-density, low impact public uses such as hiking and nature study.

In 1976, WPC set out to protect the natural and recreational attributes of the Clarion corridor through a land acquisition program that would concentrate on the 42-mile stretch of river from Ridgway in Elk County to Piney Dam in Clarion County. Since WPC began that program 27 years ago, 11,688 of the 12,200

targeted acres have been acquired for conservation, in 43 separate transactions. Most of the river corridor tracts acquired by WPC have been transferred to public agencies and the protected corridor now includes lands managed by the United States Forest Service (Allegheny National Forest), the Pennsylvania Bureau of State Parks, Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry, as well as the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

WPC Volunteer Pat Kraeuter took the photo below which shows a section of the 1,732 wooded acres along the southern shore of the Clarion River.

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