Montour Preserve: Outdoor treasure trove needs Valley’s help

My wife and I moved to this area in 1971. The Montour Preserve and Lake Chillisquaque arrived on the scene about the same time.

As an avid outdoorsman, it didn’t take me long to start casting my favorite lures into the 165-acre lake in search of pike, bass and panfish. In the years that followed, my family, friends and I enjoyed many outings to the lake, the picnic pavilions, the sugar shack and the surrounding trails.

I’m sure many of you reading this article have also enjoyed these and other activities at Montour Preserve over the years since there is an estimate of about 200,000 visitors a year.

However, in the last couple of years, many questions have surfaced surrounding the future of this local recreation destination. I, too, had questions and began to pursue some answers — it’s my hope that the following paragraphs will help clarify the future of the Montour Preserve for you as it did for me.

A little more history is in order.

Lake Chillisquaque and the surrounding preserve and the power plant were all constructed and operated by PP&L (now PPL) in the early 70’s and that ownership and operation continued over the next 40-plus years.

In 2014, PPL announced its intention to spin off the electrical generation side of its operations to the newly created Talen Energy. The lake and surrounding preserve are all a part of the generation side of things since the lake is an emergency water source for the power-producing plant.

You should also know that the lake’s chief water source is the Susquehanna River. That’s right, a pipeline runs from just below Watsontown to the lake supplying water — the small streams feeding the lake would not be sufficient to maintain lake levels.

While Talen retains ownership of the lake, the facilities and the surrounding land, its main interest is producing power and not recreation, so an alternate source of administration and maintenance was sought. Enter the Montour Area Recreation Commission.

In October 2015, MARC entered into a final agreement with Talen to assume operational control of significant portions of the Montour Preserve and lake.

Who is MARC? MARC was created in 2005 by an Intergovernmental Agreement of Cooperation between Montour County, Washingtonville Borough, Riverside Borough and the Danville Area School District.

The Borough of Danville later joined the organization. MARC is officially a Domestic Nonprofit Corporation but it is not considered a 501(c)(3) entity. MARC’s vision is to help make and promote Montour County as a healthy and desirable place to live, work and play and they do so by maintaining a number of recreational sites and special projects.

In addition to overseeing the Montour Preserve, MARC also manages the East Branch Recreation Area, Hess Recreation Area, Hopewell Park/Danville Borough Farm Mountain Bike Trail System, North Branch Susquehanna River Access/North Branch Canal Trail Parking Area and the North Branch Canal Trail. MARC’s operations are overseen by an unpaid commission of elected municipal and county officials and volunteers and part-time hourly director Bob Stoudt. Bob is aided by assistant director Jon Beam, who is also a part-time hourly employee. MARC also employs Denny Piatt as a part-time maintenance technician.

In a recent interview, Bob told me he is charged with coming up with $100,000 each year in order to honor the agreement with Talen and maintain and run the Montour Preserve. He has successfully accomplished that for one year and roughly half of the upcoming year. A good portion of that money comes from outright donations, funding from Montour County and from fees charged for race registrations for a series of special racing events overseen by MARC.

I’ve pointed out all that history and background material in hopes that it would give a better understanding of where things might be going in the future regarding Montour Preserve. Unless there are some changes, the present management system can be renewed for up to 10 one-year terms; on the other hand, if MARC fails to come up with the $100,000 any given year, several consequences can be expected.

One obvious consequence would be the removal of all pavilions and restroom facilities and roads leading to pavilions would be closed. Parking lots would remain open, however. In addition, the boat launch area would be gated and closed to motor traffic and access to Lake Chillisquaque would be by foot only — but fishing and canoeing would be permitted. While the trail system would remain open, the trails would no longer be maintained and the fossil pit would be closed, as well. The visitor center would remain open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Even if MARC meets the financial demand each year, that may not be a guarantee that all is well.

In case you haven’t noticed, the coal-fired power plant isn’t operating on some days — it’s actually running on a part-time basis. Possibly the present anti-coal burning sentiment in the country has something to do with that.

What this means for the future, however, is anybody’s guess right now. If the generation plant ever shuts down and ceases to produce power, the emergency water supply — Lake Chillisquaque — will no longer be needed and would likely be drained and the land returned to its original form.

No, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission nor DCNR would likely  want the lake — remember there’s a water source pipeline and pump station and the cost of running and maintaining that water source is a deciding factor.

There are certainly still some unanswered questions. Will MARC be able to raise the necessary funds each year? Will the coal-fired generating plant eventually shut down or would it someday be converted partially or entirely to gas?

In the meantime, the Montour Preserve remains open for us to enjoy. In case you are wondering, all the former rules and regulations that were set up by PPL regarding the use of the preserve are still in place — please be careful to observe them.

To make donations or to get involved as a volunteer or to provide some other useful service or program, contact Bob Stoudt at (570) 336-2060 or at RStoudt@MontourRec.com.