7.
Recreation, Public Access, Public Use
Previous studies and assessments have indicated a deficit in the number and quality of public recreation resources and facilities in the Lackawanna watershed (Lackawanna River CMP 1990, Lackawanna Heritage Valley Plan 1991, Lackawanna River Greenway Study 1993). The lack of trails for walking and bicycling was also noted in previous studies.
There are state parks, game lands, county and municipal parks as well as facilities such as Montage Mountain, public and private gold courses, Little League fields, school district facilities and thousands of acres of private forest land and abandoned mine land used informally by the public throughout the Lackawanna watershed. The various proposals for trails and greenways can be ways of joining the more remote recreation areas with the developed residential and commercial centers of the watershed. This should include safe access to water resources (see Appendix A and Section 12).
7.1
Water Flow Management, Stillwater Dam Issues
While it maintains a perennial flow, the Lackawanna is subject to extensive low flow conditions particularly in warmer weather. Many study participants have commented on the need for low flow releases from Stillwater Dam to augment flow for warm weather canoe and kayak paddle sport. Commentary at the public meeting for the Upper Lackawanna River Conservation plan (July 1998) discussed a variety of issues related to the operation and management of Stillwater Dam. This discussion provided impetus for the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission to develop and agreement with the Corps of Engineers to construct and operate a boat launch and fishery access site. The site opened in 2000. There are a number of issues related to Stillwater Dam which need to be addressed through a reallocation and reauthorization study of Stillwater Dam. Those identified in this plan and the Upper Lackawanna plan are:
1. Pool level management, depth and water temperature influences
2. Low flow and recreational flow releases
3. Impact of existing warm water flow release on downstream fishery
4. Maintenance of larger, deeper pool vs. flood storage loss
5. On-site recreation use, fishing, swimming, picnicking
6. Use of dam breast as connector trail between D&H and O&W rail trail grades.
7. Potential to identify nonfederal sponsor for a reauthorization and reallocation study
8. Development of county, regional or state recreation facility at Stillwater
9. Conservation management of upland areas at Stillwater.
Dam releases have been helpful in sustaining canoe and kayak navigation during certain canoe-a-thon events which coincided with authorized surplus releases from Stillwater. At these rates there has not been any adverse impacts to the trout fishery or bank stability. Scheduled releases of this type would greatly enhance the potential for regular and predictable paddle sport use and related economic benefits to river corridor communities.
7.2
Fisheries
The Lackawanna has been recognized as a Class “A” fishery for brown trout. Under PAF&BC regulations, a Class “A” fishery is one that sustains up to 600-pounds of trout per hectare in various ages and sizes with indications of reproduction maintaining a population at that level over several years. PAF&BC have classified the reach of river from Fallbrook in Carbondale to Hull Creek at Blakely Corners as Class “A”. The reach from Blakely Corners to White Oak Run has Trophy Trout special regulations limiting take and requiring the use of artificial lures only. The Lackawanna has become a destination for fly fishermen.
Some topics relative to the fishery which have become issues along the Lackawanna are fishing access and fisheries regulations. Access is available along recently acquired rail trail properties such as the D&H and O&W trails in the Upper Lackawanna and the O&W, Providence reach and CNJ trails in the Mid Valley and Scranton. Several public parks and levees have added to fishery accessibility on the Lackawanna.
The acquisition of former PG&W watershed lands by Theta Corporation had resulted in the closure of sections of Roaring Brook and Spring Brook, which had previously been open for fish stocking and fishing. Some Theta properties have recently been included in a hunting management program whereby Theta and the Game Commission will cooperate on a hunting and resource management program. A similar program for fisheries access is also underway with the cooperation of the Fish and Boat Commission.
Regulations in the Trophy Trout waters in the Mid Valley have been an issue with a minority of local residents who want their children to be allowed to use live bait. The Fish Commission has granted an exception to the regulations to allow live bait use by children in the Condella and Mellow parks in Olyphant and Blakely.
7.3
Canoeing, Kayaking and Other Navigation
The Lackawanna River offers opportunities primarily for canoeing and kayaking. The larger tributaries offer seasonal and marginal kayaking runs. The Lackawanna drops an average of 19-feet-per-mile from Forest City to Pittston. The rivers course is characterized with features known as riffles and pools, ledges and strainers. These features present challenges to navigation. Navigability on the Lackawanna is also affected by flow characteristics, precipitation events and the management of Stillwater Dam.
The riffle and pool structure is somewhat like a watery stairway. Where the river drops in elevation it flows over boulders, cobble and rock ledges or small waterfalls, these are the risers on the watery stairway. The treads are the pools of still water between the riffles and ledges. The depth and length of pools varies with the gradient of the surrounding topography. The pools on the Lackawanna range a few hundred to several thousand feet in length.
Longer pools are mostly associated with broad flood plains. Olyphant, Dickson City, Nay Aug Avenue, South Washington Avenue areas in Scranton have relatively longer pool features associated with adjacent flood plains.
Steep gradients, ledges, riffles and associated rapids are common to areas like the Panther Bluffs reach in Fell Township, the Winton area in Archbald and Jessup, the Cliff Street reach in Scranton and the Moosic anticline in Old Forge.
Since the Lackawanna is a steep and at places narrow river with an intact riparian forest corridor there are numerous strainers where riverbank trees have fallen into or overhang the water presenting challenges to navigation.
The flow characteristics of the river are the most significant factor affecting navigation. Using the USGS Gage Station at Archbald as a guide, the river can be generally assumed at navigable for downstream canoe and kayak use when the Archbald Gage is above 2.5 feet. The river becomes more of a challenge for navigation above 4 feet as it approaches bank full flood stage at 6 to 8 feet. The dangers of navigating on a flood crest are numerous.
The river usually runs in the 2.5 to 3-foot range in late winter into late spring under conditions of normal precipitation. Summer flows are usually in the range of 1.8 to 2.2 feet. At this depth, some of the pool features in Dickson and Scranton remain navigable.
The LRCA has conducted the Lackawanna River Canoe-a-thon on the river each May since 1988. Prior to that, the event had been conducted by the Luzerne–Lackawanna Environmental Council and the Jaycees, since 1973.
The LRCA postponed the event once due to flooding and canceled it once due to drought. It has been run successfully in other years with low flow conditions, an inhibiting factor. Some canoe-a-thons benefited from an incidental release from Stillwater Dam. While the Dam is not authorized to conduct recreational releases, LRCA has on occasion been fortunate to coordinate the timing of an operational release.
The ability to utilize Stillwater Dam for regular flow releases has been obvious to a large number of paddle sport participants. From comments received by LRCA through the course of this planning work, there is a consensus among several stakeholders that a reauthorization and reallocation project for Stillwater could allow regular low flow releases at volumes and velocities which would allow or enhance paddle sports while not having any negative affects on fisheries habitat. Releases at rates which mimic natural storm events during low flow periods could have water quality and habitat benefits.
The designation of the appropriate nonfederal partners and the establishment of an inclusive stakeholders group and related issues are discussed in the recommendations section of this plan.
Another topic which has emerged during the course of this work, is the potential to install a low flow weir on the river in Scranton in conjunction with the development of a Riverfront Greenway from Lackawanna Avenue upstream through Olive Street to the vicinity of the Farmers Market.
The LRCA and Corps of Engineers considered such installations in the 1993 Greenway Study. With the installation of flood control levees, low flow weir or a low head dam could provide a navigation pool up to two miles in length. Fish and canoe passage facilities would be necessary on any such structure.
7.4
Trails
The National Park Service recreation needs assessments conducted during the development of the Lackawanna River CMP and the Plan for the Lackawanna Heritage Valley indicated a deficit of passive recreation facilities such as trails in the Scranton/Lackawanna County area.
Both plans recommended the development of a Lackawanna River Trail and parks system along forty miles of the river from Pittston through Scranton, the Mid Valley, Carbondale and Forest City. The Rail Trail Council of Northeast Pennsylvania (RTC) was formed in 1990 to promote and develop recreational trails. The RTC has acquired 32 miles of the former D&H Railroad along the Upper Lackawanna watershed as well as easements on eight miles of the parallel O&W Railway.
The LHVA has acquired and developed six miles of trail on the Central Railway of New Jersey between Scranton and Taylor and on the O&W between Blakely and Archbald. LHVA also has funding agreements with PA DOT for additional acquisitions. The Lackawanna Valley Conservancy (LVC) has acquired one-half-mile of the O&W in North Scranton and related river lands in Jermyn, Throop and Taylor. Problems with the implementation of PA DOT grant program agreements and property owner resistance have slowed the further acquisition and development of trails along the Lackawanna.
The integration of the Scranton, Olyphant and Dickson City levee projects has been anticipated as a mechanism to clean up degraded river corridor reaches and establish a trail gradient. These projects are gradually moving towards implementation. Additional funding and work programs will be required to integrate the levees into the trail system.
Links to other areas in the watershed have been suggested in connection with the following projects:
· Leggetts Creek & the Abingtons: Leggetts Creek Greenway project in North Scranton; Leggetts Creek Trail in South Abington Township; Northern Electric Trail between Clarks Summit and Dalton being advanced by Countryside Conservancy.
· Sibley area recreation site, Milwaukee Avenue Soccer Field in Old Forge along the St. John’s Creek – Lehigh Valley rail corridor.
· The Duryea to Pittston to Wilkes-Barre Trail.
· The North Pocono Trail proposed on 12 miles of county-owned rail corridor in Dunmore, Roaring Brook, Elmhurst, Jefferson and Madison townships by the North Pocono Rotary Club.
· A Roaring Brook greenway linking the river, Nay Aug Park and the upper Roaring Brook corridor to the North Pocono area.
Trails and trail alternatives along the river are discussed and prioritized in Appendix A of this plan. Trails along tributary streams are discussed and prioritized in the stream walk survey recommendations and municipal recommendations.
7.5
Hunting
Hunting is a major recreational activity in Pennsylvania. Hunting provides a necessary control on some populations, especially whitetail deer. The control of whitetail deer is essential to insure the diverse succession of forestry resources in the Lackawanna watershed. There are several areas of state game lands in the Lackawanna watershed. Recent agreements between the Pennsylvania Game Commission and Theta Corporation has brought 30,000-acres of Theta-owned watershed lands under a five-year game-hunting management program.
7.6
Motor Vehicle Issues
Motor vehicle use impacts the river and watershed in a generic sense as well as a on a site- specific basis. Generically, motor vehicles impact the watershed with excessive air pollution and surface deposition of airborne particle pollution as well as direct atmospheric deposition on water bodies. The excessive creation of impervious surfaces and promotion of sprawl-type development and questions of long-term political and ecological sustainability are other issues related to our petroleum-based, motor vehicle using society.
The specific impact issues related to motor vehicle use and public access to river corridor and watershed natural areas are of a more immediate concern to local resource managers, property owners and public safety officials. Off-road vehicle (ORV) and all terrain vehicles (ATV) uses are major concerns in the Lackawanna watershed from an ecological and public safety perspective.
ORV access by pickup trucks is occasionally abused by persons engaged in illegal dumping of construction debris, white goods, trash and hazardous materials. ORV’s also provide access into remote natural areas for other illicit activities such as drug and alcohol parties, poaching and vandalism.
ATV use is occasionally abused for similar purposes. In addition both ORV and ATV uses cause ecological destruction, erosion and sedimentation problems and noise pollution. The trespass by illegal ATV users causes the habitat destruction resulting from ATV trails crushing forest understory or ridge top barrens vegetation, pulverizing the shallow soils at the root zone and creating erosion channels on steep slopes. ATV’s provide a noisy and intrusive human presence in formerly remote natural habitat areas disrupting wildlife forage and reproduction patterns.
Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry and Pennsylvania Game Commission properties have been taking the impact of growing ATV usage in Pennsylvania and particularly in the Northeast Region. Large private property owners, Conservancy properties, farmers and woodlot owners have also suffered property damages and vandalism associated with ATV usage.
Recent surveys of DCNR district foresters identified the following problems with improper ATV use on trails where ATV usage was allowed: noise, litter, erosion, unsafe driving, off trail use, helmet violations, improper registration, under age use.
In addition to repair and maintenance costs, the additional man-hour costs for forest and game land management are increasing with ATV usage. The experience of the Rail Trail Council on the D&H Trail along the Upper Lackawanna indicates a similar set of problems. Fugitive dust problems created by ATV’s running at excessive speed have compromised rudimentary dust control practices. Even with a registration program the RTC is still plagued with trespass and vandalism problems. Attempts to enlist adult rider clubs to assume a more active role in policing the trails have not been as successful as hoped.
Recent legislation in Pennsylvania now requires registration, license plate display, inspection, insurance and a training course for ATV’s used off personal property. There are additional public safety and resource management needs not addressed in the legislation. Input from resource managers and law enforcement personnel for this plan indicates these additional needs:
· More ATV’s for use by resource managers and law enforcement.
· Development of better and coordinated patrol, pursuit and trespass control programs.
· Development of designated ATV use trails and activity areas.
· Focus on local ridership education; many violators in the teen and 20 age group.
· Increased investigation powers for state agency personnel and increased assistance for inter-municipal cooperation.
In another area, where both ORV and ATV issues combine with littering and dumping problems, there have been suggestions for surveillance and enforcement projects involving law enforcement, resource management agencies and property owners.
The development of waste drop-off sites for white goods, brown goods, furniture and construction debris at convenient locations and times of operation is another alternative that has been suggested along with a litter and dumping awareness campaign.
7.7
Public Safety
The presence of a large urban population in close proximity to open space lands, natural areas, ridge tops and watershed forest lands has contributed to issues such as trespass, dumping, illegal behavior and vandalism across the Lackawanna watershed.
Trespass at many reservoirs, stream corridors, waterfalls and in some natural areas has been a common daily occurrence throughout the watershed particularly in the warmer months. Swimming at reservoirs and waterfalls along with alcohol use by trespassers often results in injury or death by drowning or falling. Public safety and emergency response to these remote areas is slowed by roadways which have not been adequately maintained.
Wildfire is another public safety issue which may be of greater concern in future years as development at the wild lands urban interface increases.