Among the actions geared toward public access was the acquisition of two fishing easements in Erie County. The Commission opted to secure an easement on over 2,350 linear feet of Crooked Creek as it flows across a parcel of property in Springfield Township, Erie County. The easement will be for public fishing, boating, and riparian and fishery management and will include the stream corridor and extend at least 29 feet back from the top of the bank. In addition to the fishing easement, an additional easement for parking, and a path from the parking area to the creek, will be secured. The easement parcel is located along the south side of Route 5 and extends south along the creek. Crooked Creek in this area does provide steelhead fishing opportunities; however, the parcel under consideration is not currently open to public fishing. Also, Crooked Creek upstream from this area received several trout stockings in 2006, and the acquisition of the subject rights will provide additional trout fishing opportunities.

The Commission also voted to secure an easement for property along and over a portion of Walnut Creek. Walnut Creek provides significant steelhead fishing opportunities. The property being considered is also popular because of its proximity (roughly 1/3 of a mile south) to the Commission’s Walnut Creek Marina property.

In both instances, the funding to be used for the acquisition of these easements comes from the sale of the special Lake Erie fishing permits. The Commission has identified ensuring access to the state’s waterways as critical for the long-term future of fishing and boating in the Commonwealth.

In yet another access related action, the Commission accepted a donation of an approximately 1.3-acre tract of land along French Creek north of the Utica Bridge in Venango County. The tract is between an active rail line and the creek and has roughly 700 feet of creek frontage. The property will be conveyed from the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy.

The Commission also took action to approve financial support for two boating access sites. The Commission approved a grant of up to $113,000 that will assist Bridgewater Borough, Beaver County with its plans to convert a 12-acre brownfield along the Ohio River into a public riverfront park. The park will include a boat dock for transient boaters. The boat dock will be ADA accessible and will be constructed in a T-shaped configuration that will extend 88 feet from shore. The docks will be 60 feet wide and consist of eight slips. Grant funds will also be used for site grading and landscaping and for the installation of lights and signs.

A similar grant was approved for Columbia Borough, Lancaster County, which is revitalizing its Columbia Borough River Park. The borough’s master plan for the site calls for replacing the old two-lane plank boat launch ramp with a new three-lane concrete ramp that will include a bulkhead and courtesy docks. Using a Commission grant not to exceed $250,000, the Borough will repave the existing parking area and expand the parking area to allow space for additional vehicles with trailers. The Borough will reconstruct the access road to provide a traffic loop through the facility to alleviate some of the congestion that occurs with the existing single lane access road.

In other action, the Commission:

• Approved a new fee schedule for the issuance of Scientific Collectors Permits.
• Agreed to lease a portion of its Opossum Lake, Cumberland County, property to Lower Frankford Township.
• Made revisions to its list of Wild Trout Stream Sections. One water was removed from the list, the section limits of six others were modified and 27 new waters were added.
• Added a 2.75-mile section of Tannery Hollow Run, Cameron County to a different wild trout list, the list of Class A Wild Trout Waters.
• Moved to add North Park Lake, Allegheny County, to the Big Bass Special Regulations Program, effective January 1, 2008.
• Proposed amended fishing regulations pertaining to seasons, sizes and creel limits for fish and mussels on the Conowingo Reservoir to bring Pennsylvania’s regulations into correlation with Maryland’s.
• In a similar move, season, sizes and creel limits were also proposed to be adjusted for black bass, muskellunge (and hybrids) and river herring to make regulations on the Delaware River more uniform between Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey.
• Approved issuing a sub-surface easement to Beaver County for the installation of fiber optic cables along the Commission’s New Brighton Access Area.
• Proposed to establish a minimum size limit of 14 inches for tautog being imported into Pennsylvania for sale in fish markets.
• Exchanged small property rights with an adjacent landowner at Canonsburg Lake, Washington County.

A complete copy of the meeting agenda containing additional background information about the action items can be found at the Minutes & Agendas section of the Commission’s web site.

• Public access for recreational anglers and watercraft users
• Lake Erie Access Improvement Program
• Minutes & Agendas
• Press release index