News Analysis by Christopher Lareau, editor of Allegheny Almanac
It is headquarters for the Allegheny National Forest, but Warren County may have missed out on the $2.7 Million in stimulus funds allocated for the Allegheny National Forest.
According to a PDF document at its ANF website the national forest stimulus plan lists only two local counties, McKean and Allegheny, as a national forest recipient from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The proposal commits $2.7 Million to McKean County's national forest roads and $400,000 to national forest roads in the Kane experimental forest, which the document states is located in Allegheny County.
The Kane Experimental Forest is located in Elk County, with a scientific laboratory located in Warren County at Irvine, PA.
While some may have looked forward to a new septic system at the area's largest beach at Kinzua or
other amenities that may have benefited county tourism here, the money will go instead to maintaining forest roads in McKean County, according to the document. Warren County is not mentioned in the document as a search function shows.
As most hikers know, the ANF is filled with old logging and oil field roads that might benefit from the ANF plans.
Read the PDF document at the
Allegheny National Forest web site. Description of funding for the forest can be found on page 110 of the document. To more easily reach the section about road repair in the Allegheny National Forest insert "Allegheny National Forest" in the search box of the document at the top of the page.
The document describes projects that will improve and pave roads in the Allegheny National Forest and could benefit the industrialization of the federal property, allowing better access for logging and drilling. However, a recent
court decision against road building in national forests may impede these plans.
Other court battles may have already put the entire process in limbo, but local officials are currently
challenging a moratorium on oil drilling in the national forest here. Local people protest that stringent EPA standards are effectively stopping needed economic activity in the oil and gas industry.
Two years ago, the Kinzua Beach in Warren County was closed due to a lack of Allegheny National Forest funding. While forest road building will bring in economic development, Kinzua Beach is still without a basic septic system and visitors must use Port-A-Johns and bring in their own drinking water. The Forest Service last year re-opened the beach, a local signature tourist destination, and this year installed a volleyball court and pavilion there. The Allegheny Reservoir area has been hailed as a
recreation haven at least since 1967. Local ANF and government officials have yet to come up with a plan that allows both tourism and industrial development to flourish together.
Who needs a septic system if ya got a road. Just watch where you step. ;)
Posted by: joe mckean | February 28, 2010 at 04:04 AM