DCNR Stands For
"Dam Construction -- No Reason!"

On July 15,1998, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a public notice for a permit to build a dam on Swatara Creek in Lebanon County. The dam would flood slightly over 7 miles of Swatara Creek and 3 1/2 miles of tributary streams, destroy 95 acres of wetlands, and about 550 acres of a mature bottom-land forest that has been developing since the 1860's. In the "good" old days, it would have been the Corps of Engineers that proposed such an environmentally destructive project. Instead, it's the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) who is behind this dam.

Hard to believe? One might think so, but the fact is, DCNR (or back when the same cast of characters were part of the old Department of Environmental Resources) has hardly seen a stream flowing through a state park they haven't tried to dam. Just a few years ago, they tried to dam Nescopeck Creek, which would have eliminated 8 miles of trout stream, 120 acres of wetlands, and about 800 acres of wildlife habitat, that was owned by the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

The idea for dam on Swatara Creek was floated in the late 1960's, a time when the Bureau of State Parks was attempting to have a State Park (read: impoundment) within 25 miles of every Pennsylvanian. Times change, but not this project or the desire of the dam builders in the DCNR. While state agencies and ecology groups work to remove dams that are hindering efforts to restore runs of American shad to our streams, the DCNR is working like beavers to dilute that effort.

According to letters of comment from Federal agencies, knowledgeable citizens, and ecology groups, the dam would flood a riparian forest that has been developing since the old Swatara dam broke in the 1860's. Woven among this riparian forest is a profusion of stream channels, wetlands, and vernal pools. At one time, Swatara Creek was devoid of life because of abandoned mine drainage. But thanks to the efforts of the Swatara Creek Watershed Association, and state government, aquatic life has returned to the Swatty. Unfortunately, it seems that the only reason everyone was working to restore the stream was so that DCNR could then destroy it!

Rumor has it that the DCNR has withdrawn the permit application it had submitted to the Corps of Engineers. The Corps has told DCNR that they were "not likely to receive a favorable decision" on their permit application. From sympathetic allies within DCNR we have learned that although the DCNR has withdrawn their permit application, they have no intention of abandoning this dam. Instead, they now want to include "water supply" as a project purpose, and then delay submitting their new permit application until after the next presidential election, hoping that a Republican president (or a certain governor as Vice-President?) will be elected who will then appoint more sympathetic Federal officials that won't be so inclined to object to the dam. Now that's planning. Why, with the money they received from KEY 93, they're in a great position to influence the next election!

According to DCNR literature, "The primary purpose of state parks is to provide opportunities for enjoying healthful outdoor recreation and to serve as an outdoor classroom for environmental education. In meeting these purposes, the conservation of the natural, scenic, aesthetic, and historical values of the parks should be given first consideration. Stewardship responsibilities should be carried out in a way that protects the natural outdoor experience for the enjoyment of current and future generations."

Do the same questions come to your mind that comes to ours after reading this mission statement? Where, in this project, is the "natural outdoor experience?" What is the environmental education component of a project that destroys a forest and 90 acres of wetlands (except, perhaps, the example this provides of yet another project that disregards wetlands and other natural features in favor of still water)? Maybe they will take nice photographs of the wetlands and 140 year- old forests, and put those up at the park's ice cream stand for educational purposes.

Why is a state agency with this mission statement pushing for a water supply for the city of Lebanon? What business does the DCNR have worrying about water supply for Lebanon? Only when that need also serves as a likely false excuse to spend more taxpayer money, while destroying wetlands and streams that can't be replaced. Given their mission statement, it simply doesn't make sense for the DCNR to be involved in a project like this.

Where is the leadership of this agency? Remember a few years ago when we passed a bond issue (KEY 93) giving DCNR money to fix up our State Parks and do other good deeds? Is this where our money is going? To build another high-cost, high maintenance structure that destroys the natural features of the watershed? You know this project must be a turkey when even the chief dam building agency in the country won't let them build it. In fact, this dam would destroy more wetlands at one fell swoop than the total amount of wetlands the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) allows to be filled through the permit process over an entire year!

Speaking of DEP, another oddity is DEP's action on a sister agency's permit --or should we say the lack of action. Here is a proposal to eliminate the largest amount of wetlands that the DEP has seen in years, yet DEP has not taken any action. Anyone out there surprised? (Certainly the PU staff is not!) What happened to Governor Ridge's environmental concern?

We know one thing; this project is not going to go away. While the rest of the United States is tearing down dams that have caused major environmental problems, we have an agency supposedly devoted to conserving the natural resource values of our parks, hell-bent-for-leather on building yet another dam that would destroy those resources. The Pennsylvania Audubon Society and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation are two organizations on record as opposing the Swatara Dam. We suggest contacting them if you are interested in learning more about this project (Pennsylvania Audubon Society: 717- 763 4985, Chesapeake Bay Foundation 717-234-5550). And stay tuned to these pages.

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