Canyon forum draws crowd

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Mike Joseph

PLEASANT GAP — With old worries, new hopes and words of caution, more than 200 Centre County residents turned out Thursday night to tell lawmakers what they thought of a compromise in the works for the transfer of 1,800 acres of Rockview state prison land.

“Is this democracy in action or what?” state Rep. Kerry Benninghoff declared as he looked over a Central Pennsylvania Institute of Science and Technology auditorium filled wall to wall with people concerned about what will become of a vast tract of undeveloped land between Bellefonte and State College.

CDT/Nabil K. Mark

Spring Creek Canyon near Fishermans Paradise February 6, 2008. CDT/Nabil K. Mark

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• Rockview land plan sparks debate

More than two dozen in the crowd addressed a six-member panel representing potential new landowners Penn State, the Game Commission, the Fish & Boat Commission and Benner Township, along with ClearWater Conservancy and the Spring Creek Alliance.

The views from the audience ranged from calls for complete Game Commission ownership, to support for the university’s College of Agricultural Sciences to recommendations that the transfer be put off so a new governor next year can direct the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to take control of the land.

But Thursday night was the first public airing of a compromise that would divide ownership between Penn State and the Game Commission, and new to the remarks from the audience was support for the idea.

“I think it’s a good compromise,” Penn Township resident Mark Henry told the panel members and the trio of lawmakers — Benninghoff and state Rep. Mike Hanna, D-Lock Haven, and state Sen. Jake Corman, R-Benner Township.

“I’m encouraged,” Henry added, “and I hope it moves forward soon.”

Benner Township resident John Wallace, who lives on Barns Lane next to the state land, said Rock-view prison has been a “poor steward” of the land. An apple orchard has been “let go,” fallen trees have not been handled properly and invasive species widen their claim on the land.

“I wish you would move quickly,” Wallace said.

Fishermen and kayakers, often at odds on waterways, may have found a spirit of compromise as well on Thursday night as they looked ahead to the use of a three-mile section of Spring Creek that has been under prison control for 99 years.

College Township resident Mike Hendricks first told the panel that anglers and boaters are like tennis players and street hockey players trying to use the same court at the same time.

Boaters “scare the fish and disturb the peace and quiet,” he said. “This is a nightmare, and it’s going to create conflict and it’s going to create harsh words and maybe even violence.” Such conflicts on another stream in another state, he said, resulted in divided use by time of day.

But Bellefonte resident and kayaker Lynne Heritage followed up by noting that Spring Creek is deep enough for paddling only a few days a year, suggesting that those deep water days would be time enough for boaters.

Perhaps the toughest question of the night went to Bruce McPheron, dean of Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, from a senior in his college, Tina Robinson, who said she favored Game Commission ownership over College of Agricultural Sciences ownership for fear of fertilizer pollution of Spring Creek. She pressed McPheron on whether research on the land would use organic or monoculture methods.

“It’s really hard for me to generalize and say there would never be a drop of fertilizer put on that land,” McPheron said.

Panel members for the most part just listened to the concerns, without responding. Hanna said the questions posed during the three hours — plus others written down on provided forms — would be answered. The questions and answers together, Hanna said, would be provided to the media and otherwise made public.

Mike Joseph can be reached at 235-3910.