Draft River Conservation Plan Incorporating Public Feedback

BSWA’s River Conservation Plan is being completed with the help of residents of the watershed as well as a number of members from various distances. This plan will be critical to future joint planning and watershed protection efforts, and has representation on its steering committee from municipalities, the BSWA board, county planning, and county conservation service. Funding is provided through a grant to BSWA from PADCNR. The plan characterizes the watershed in terms of water, land, geological, biological, historical, and cultural resources, and notes prioritized issues to be addressed in order to best protect and enhance Big Spring and its watershed. The plan will conclude with management options suggested based on these various attributes of the watershed, input from the municipalities, and residents. We wish to thank residents who have contributed to the plan through attendance at recent public meetings, and through completion of the survey. Unsurprisingly, the survey results to date indicated that Big Spring and its surrounding environment is highly prized for its natural and scenic beauty and fishing, with major uses including scenic drives (64%), running, hiking, or walking (55%), enjoying views (80%), birdwatching (41%), photography (39%), fly fishing (34%), and spin fishing (25%). Also, survey respondents recognized water quality issues (84%), development pressure (63%) and water quantity issues (46%) to be particular concerns regarding the Big Spring area. We wish to also thank Pennsylvania Environmental Council for scheduling public meetings and summarizing survey results. The plan will be completed by December, 2006.