Has anyone heard anything about the DCNR wanting to swap three thousand acres of state game land 283 along the clarion river for some swampland near Pymatuming? I heard they want to make 283 part of Clear Creek State Park.

It's going to be State Forest not State Park. It's land along the Clarion River. There was an article in the Clarion newspaper about Forestry taking over the land, if I remember right there was a private land owner involved also. All of the land involved is in Clarion County only.  

--Last edited by Buff on 2008-01-13 18:09:54 --

I found this article below. I read another one where the twp supervisors ok'ed and county commissioners approved the proposal.


Conservancy pitches land swap in Farmington



Clarion News

General News


By Rodney L. Sherman, Clarion News Editor

FARMINGTON TWP. – Farmington Township supervisors earlier this month took a wait and see position regarding a proposed plan to turn parts of State Game Lands 283 into part of Clear Creek State Forest.

Greg Socha of the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy and Gary Frank of the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources presented a plan under which conservancy proposes buying 1,600 acres now owned by Clarion Timerlands, a subsidiary of Lyme Timber Co. of New Hampshire and designated as game lands, along with privately-owned timber rights on 1,700 acres owned by the game commission.

In the first phase of the deal, the land owned by Clarion Timber will be purchased by the Conservancy and transferred to the Bureau of Forestry.

The land would be state forest and administered by the DCNR Bureau of Forestry office in Clarion.

The land involved is along the Clarion River in Millcreek and Farmington townships and the northeast corner of Highland Township.

Socha said about two-thirds of the funds the conservancy uses to purchase land in such deals comes from private donations and one third comes from government grants, including the state’s Growing Greener Program.

Socha said the plan requires the approval of the Clarion County Board of Commissioners in order for part of the purchase to be financed by state Growing Greener grants.

Socha said the Clarion County commissioners asked him to first get input from the boards of supervisors in the three townships affected. The county commissioners later signed off on the plan.

Socha said part of the proposed purchases which involve private land would result in an increase in payments in lieu of real estate taxes the township now receives.

Socha said his research indicates the township – which has the lowest municipal real estate tax in the county – receives about $4 in real estate tax revenue from the land.

Socha said with the land under state ownership and control, the township would receive $540 in payments made in lieu of real estate tax revenue.

Socha and Frank have already made presentations in Highland and Millcreek townships.

In the second phase of the plan, the land owned by the game commission, with the timber rights by Clarion Timber but controlled by a conservation easement, will then be transferred to the Bureau of Forestry. In exchange, state forestland elsewhere will be transferred to the game commission.

At the end of the deals and trades, the Bureau of Forestry will control all of the tracts in the Clarion River portion of SGL 283 (some parts of SGL 283 that extend into Jefferson County along Cathers Run are not part of the deal).

Supervisor Matt Ellenberger asked about timbering and gas and oil exploration in the area after the land is under state control.

Frank said the bureau sometimes leases oil and gas rights and is obliged to cooperate with the owners of oil and gas rights if they wish to drill on the land.

One township resident informed supervisors he owns part of the timber rights on one of the tracts of land in the proposal and added legal issues surrounding ownership of the timber might affect the Conservancy’s proposal.

Although Socha said he planned to meet with Clarion County commissioners Nov. 13 and would appreciate a letter of support from the township, the board of supervisors took no action on the issue.

Conservancy buys 6,000 acres of forest land

Purchases commemorate organization's 75 years of protecting wild, scenic lands

Pittsburgh Post Gazette

Saturday, February 02, 2008

By Don Hopey, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy has purchased 1,600 acres along the Clarion River south of Cooksburg in Clarion County and the timber rights on another 1,700 acres in the same area.

The conservancy said yesterday it had also finalized the purchase of a 2,300-acre tract of mature forest land along Laurel Hill Creek in Somerset County, plus additional smaller parcels totaling 450 acres in Jefferson and Forest counties.

All of the larger parcels and timber rights have been transferred to the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Bureau of Forestry for permanent protection.

The Somerset County property has been added to Forbes State Forest, and the Clarion County property becomes part of Clear Creek State Forest. The forestry bureau will permit recreational uses such as camping, fishing and hiking on the lands.

The purchases, which the conservancy is billing as its "75th Anniversary Acquisitions," to commemorate the organization's 75 years of protecting the state's "most valuable wild and scenic lands,'' were made with an $8 million grant from the Richard King Mellon Foundation and $4.5 million from DCNR.

"These properties are magnificent, and I am glad that, with the help of our partners, we are able to protect them and share them with the public," said Tom Sanders, the conservancy's president and chief operating officer.

To date, the state's oldest conservancy has protected through land purchases about 225,000 acres -- nearly half of all the land protected by land trusts in Pennsylvania.

The conservancy's interest in the forested land fronting almost three miles of Laurel Hill Creek in Upper and Lower Turkeyfoot townships, Somerset County, was reported in December. At that time, the conservancy was negotiating the purchase of all the other parcels with the New Hampshire-based Lyme Timber Co. and its subsidiary, the Clarion Timber Co.

DCNR Secretary Michael DiBerardinis said when large tracts go on the market, it's important for the state to add those lands to the state forest system to prevent the breakup of forested land and the habitat disruption that causes for wildlife. He said it also creates a better outdoor experience for hunters and other outdoor enthusiasts.

Don Hopey can be reached at dhopey@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1983.

First published on February 2, 2008 at 12:00 am

Thanks for keeping us updated Buff .....

Here's the latest article on this from last Thursday's paper.

By the way, it is Forestry not State Park...



County’s northern game lands transferred to state park system
By Tom DiStefano, Clarion News Writer


Map by DCNR Bureau of Forestry

The Bureau of Forestry is calling it the Lyme Transaction, and it means parts of State Game Lands 283 are now parts of Clear Creek State Forest . Around 1,600 acres of SGL 283 along the Clarion River downstream from Cook Forest were purchased by the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy and transferred, along with timber rights to the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Bureau of Forestry. Another 1,700 acres of SGL 283 will remain game lands, but the timber rights on those lands will be under the control of the Bureau of Forestry.

CLARION - The game lands are now state forest. Specifically, parts of State Game Lands 283 in northeastern Clarion County are now parts of the Clear Creek State Forest , following the closing of a land transfer brokered by the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy.

Around 1,600 acres of SGL 283 along the Clarion River downstream from Cook Forest were purchased by the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy and transferred, along with timber rights to the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Bureau of Forestry.

Another 1,700 acres of SGL 283 will remain game lands, but the timber rights on those lands will be under the control of the Bureau of Forestry.

Some of the land and all of the timber rights on all 3,300 acres were purchased from the Lyme Timber Company by the Conservancy and transferred to the Bureau of Forestry. Lyme had allowed some of the land to be designated as state game lands.

The purchase was funded by an $8 million grant from the Richard King Mellon Foundation and $2 million from the DCNR.

The timber rights had allowed Lyme Timber to harvest trees over 14 inches in diameter on all 3,300 acres.

Plans and rules

The timber rights purchase is the “big advantage” of the land sale, District Forester Gary Frank said, as it will mean the DCNR will be able to preserve the scenic attributes of the corridor along the Clarion River , which is designated as “scenic” under the federal Wild and Scenic River System.

“It is my intent to keep it as natural and scenic as possible,” Frank said.

The transfer also means that more activities will be allowed on what is now state forest land than are allowed on game lands, including camping and horseback riding.

Frank said the DCNR will now begin a planning process that will include meetings to accept public input as part of its resource management plan.

While the Bureau of Forestry regional office is in Clarion, the land transfer means there is state forest land in Clarion County for the first time in recent history.

Frank said the bureau will now inventory the land and identify its boundaries in coordination with the PGC and Lyme Timber. Signs designating the land as state forests and listing state forest regulations will then be posted;

The regulations will be the same as in other state forests, and hunting will be allowed. State game laws will of course also apply, and game officers can enforce them.

One the land is mapped and designated, permits for activities allowed on state forest land will become available, perhaps by this summer, Frank said.

Permits will be free and can be obtained by contacting the district forestry office along South Second Avenue in Clarion.

Frank said the Bureau of Forestry will likely retain and allow public use of all the access roads and parking lots established by the game commission.

The deal includes…

Not all of SGL 283 is part of the deal – None of the parts in Jefferson County are included, nor are some of the eastern parts along the upstream parts of Cathers Run or Clawson Run directly bordering Jefferson County .

And less than half of the parts of SGL 283 included in the deal will end up as part of Clear Creek State Forest .

The majority, in fact, will be retained by the PGC, but the DCNR will control the timber rights on the PGC-owned portions.

Some of the more popular areas of SGL 283 will remain in SGL 283, including Hemlock Island , where controversy broke out when the PGC gained control of the island and cited campers who had been using the island for years beforehand.

The area near the mouth of Blyson Run and extending upstream along the river to State Road Ripple will also remain as game lands.

Other land deals

The land transfer is one of several brokered by the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy in celebration of the 75th anniversary of the conservancy’s existence.

Altogether, the conservancy has purchased 11,390 acres and transferred most of it to the DCNR Bureau of Forestry.

In addition to the SGL 283 deal, what the Conservancy calls its “75th Anniversary Acquisitions” include:

lBennett Branch Forest : 5,340 acres of scenic hardwood forest in Clearfield and Elk Counties . 3,870 of those acres will be added to the Bureau of Forestry’s Moshannon State Forest .

The conservancy will retain 1,470 acres and conduct clean up projects and forest management activities. Another 80 acres will be transferred to the Department of environmental Protection, which plans an acid mine drainage treatment project in Clearfield County .

lLaurel Hill Creek Forest ; 2,300 acres in the scenic Laurel Highlands of Somerset County , to become part of Forbes State Forest .

lThe conservancy has also purchased additional parcels totaling 450 acres in Jefferson and Forest counties. A large parcel is adjacent to and will become part of Clear Creek State Forest in Polk Township , Jefferson County (the Munderf area). Two smaller parcels along Tionesta Creek in Forest County will be retained by the Conservancy, which may eventually sell it to a private buyer subject to a conservation easement – an agreement limiting its use and development

In its announcements of the land deals, Conservancy officials said the acquisitions will “increase the amount of state forest land available for public use and will ensure the permanent conservation of some of the regions most valuable wild and scenic lands.”

And DCRN Secretary Michael DiBernardinis said the transfers to the state forest system “will help us enhance what we treasure in Pennsylvania .

“Adding this piece of Pennsylvania ’s great outdoors to our state forest system will mean we are able to protect wildlife habitat, and that future generations will be able to enjoy the land for outdoor recreation, including hunting, fishing and hiking.”  

--Last edited by Buff on 2008-02-19 18:53:31 --

 Thanks for keeping us up to date on this. I think it might not be that bad of a deal. Some of my property borders 283 in Mill Creek Twp.