State College, College councils to help develop future vision of Thompson Woods Preserve
Two Centre County municipalities will soon begin to help determine the future vision and budget for Thompson Woods Preserve.
During Monday night’s State College Borough Council meeting, Bill Keough, chair of the governance committee for Thompson Woods Preserve, gave a presentation of the committees’ priorities for the future of the preserve.
Thompson Woods Preserve, a 43.36 acre preserve in the State College borough and College Township, was acquired by Clearwater Conservancy in 2000, Keough said. In 2022, the two municipalities reached an intermunicipal agreement that called for a two-committee governance system and oversight for the preserve, which included governance and advisory committees.
Keough said the committee began meeting about four months ago and has since created four priorities: branding, maintenance, forest management and enforcement.
The branding will be an important aspect, he said, so people understand the appropriate use of the preserve.
“It was really very clear right from the beginning that we needed to look at the whole branding of this particular property. It is established and deeded as a preserve. Does that mean it’s a park? Does that mean it’s a preserve? What’s the difference between a park and a preserve? Does the user public have any idea which it is, let alone what the difference is?” Keough said.
They’re working on a website to help with that and are working with a group at Penn State for wayfinding and signage.
Council member Nalini Krishnankutty asked how the preserve is currently used; Penn State uses it in some capacity for educational purposes and there’s a group of residents, runners and joggers who use the preserve.
With the new student housing development on Squirrel Drive, Keough said they have yet to see what that user impact will be. But that’s why, he said, it’s important to look at the branding of the preserve.
“We’ve got a whole new population sitting on the doorstep and we need to get a hold of that early so that it heads in the direction that all of us would like to see it,” he said.
Jasmine Fields, sustainability program officer at the borough, said she’s worked with the Centred Outdoors program to develop some programming, but there aren’t any signs or marked trails at the preserve. Before they start engaging residents, she said it’s important they have the resources available for the public.
“We really need to build the presence of, this is what this area is and collectively determine what should be happening there and what shouldn’t happen there. Brand that, then engage with the public, maybe do a guided tour or something like that, and then people will likely start to use it more so,” Fields said.
In terms of maintenance, the preserve hasn’t gone without maintenance since it was deeded in 2000. Through the Centre Region Parks and Recreation, trails have been maintained. Staff also does weekly walk-throughs to make sure there aren’t any problems, Keough said, but that’s not a formal maintenance program.
With that, forest management will be another important priority.
“When we talk about parks, and we talk about nature preserves, this is a unique kind of situation in that there aren’t any open fields here. We’re not going to play any soccer games here. There’s no softball going on. This is a forested area that is in a definitional preserve status. And so the issue of forest management is an issue that we need to address in terms of the preserve,” Keough said.
Although there haven’t been any serious issues, they’ll need to address how to manage enforcement in the preserve. For example, bicycles will be allowed in part of the pathways and trails, but motors aren’t allowed within the preserve definition, Keough said, so what that means for eBikes needs to be discussed.
Council member Gopal Balachandran asked if there were plans or ideas on how to incorporate and connect bike infrastructure in the preserve to other shared-use paths, like Millbrook Marsh. Keough said there’s been some discussion but the rules of the preserve prohibit opening the entire preserve to biking. Additionally, the upgrades that can be done for biking are limited, he said.
“Part of that is the difference between thinking about a park versus a preserve,” Keough added.
For the committees to move forward and begin presenting the preserve to the public, Keough said they need to know what the larger vision is for its future. In the coming months, the State College and College Township councils and planning commissions will complete a survey about it. They’ll also discuss budgeting for the vision.
“We’ve got to work out a way in which we can pay our bills. We have no bills at the moment. None. But we’re gonna,” Keough said.
