Warren County To Get 350-Acre Conservation Demonstration Site
HARRISBURG (Dauphin
Co.) At its recent meeting in
Harrisburg, the Pennsylvania
State Conservation Commission
(SCC) approved a $458,884 pur
chase agreement between Warren
County Conservation District
and the state Department of
General Services (DGS) for 350
acres of the former Warren State
Hospital dairy farm operation
used by the district as the Hatch
Run Conservation Demonstra
tion Area (HRCDA).
The 11-member SCC is the
oversight and support agency for
the state’s 66 county conservation
districts, and by policy requires
districts to gain SCC approval
before entering into contracts if
the estimated project cost exceeds
$250,000.
Under a management agree
ment with DGS since 1997, the
Warren County Conservation
District has been using the
HRCDA for conservation dem
onstration projects ranging
from timber harvest management
and intensive grazing of livestock
to wildlife habitat plantings and
even pond building and mainte
nance. About 1,000 people per
year have been using the site
through attending educational
programs offered there, accord
ing to Warren County District
Manager Richard Mader. He
hopes to soon double that.
The district is purchasing the
land to ensure its long-term use
and development by the conser
vation district. The payment for
the property is to be financed
through the long-term sale of
timber according to an approved
forestry stewardship plan that
provides sustainable timber har
vest.
About 100 acres of the proper
ty is forested, with the majority
of the remainder agricultural and
several acres in a transition be
tween cropland and forestland.
The agricultural land includes a
number of erosion and sedimen
tation control practices and a
25-acre intensive grazing demon
stration area.
There are about four miles of
nature trails, several four-square
acre timber harvesting demon
stration plots, and several acres
of wildlife and upland habitat
plantings done in conjunction
with the Pennsylvania Game
Commission.
“We’ve been doing education
at Hatch Run since we started
there in 1997. The whole purpose
was that it would be an educa
tional area,” Mader said. “We’re
purchasing it because we need to
have control of the property, and
it will help pave the way for
building an educational facility
on the site and eventually our of
fices will be located there.”
The original five-year manage
ment agreement with DGS allow
ed the district to follow a sustain
able timber harvest plan to
finance the installation of im
provements for environmental
education. Since 1997, timber
sales on the property have
generated $200,000, with about
$75,000 spent on the improve
ments.
Mader said it became obvious
the ideal situation would be to
have the district offices located
near the demonstration area.
Last year, with the help of the
district’s state representative, the
district acquired 3.5 acres of the
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PAUL B. ZIMMERMAN, INC.
50 Woodcorner Rd., Lititz, PA 17543
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lUDSI (717)738-7350
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Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 22, 2002-A27
property for the purpose of build
ing a conservation education cen
ter and an office complex. Devel
opment of the education center is
in the planning stages. A parking
lot was built using and demon
strating environmentally sensi
tive road maintenance techniques
as espoused by the SCC Dirt and
Gravel Road Maintenance Pro
gram.
Late last year, the district
began renegotiations with the
DGS for the purchase of the
property, located north of North
Warren, east of Rt. 62, at the in
tersection of Hatch Run Road
and Conewango Avenue in Glade
Township.
The SCC approved the negoti
ated deal that allows the district
to use $122,500 of receipts from
prior timber sales as a down pay
ment, with the rest to be paid
from timber sales realized over
the next 20 years.
For more information, contact
Richard Mader at (814)
563-3117.
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