Jessup, Lackawanna County, PA -
Hundreds of acres of sprawling green space will remain unspoiled on Moosic Mountain.
The Lackawanna River Conservation Association acquired 262 acres for permanent conservation this week across two parcels in the Valley View Business Park, using grant funding to buy the property from the Scranton Lackawanna Industrial Building Co., or SLIBCO, with plans to build trails with educational signs along the hilly terrain.
The purchase price was $620,000. A state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources grant covered $310,000, and SLIBCO, the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce’s development arm, provided a required $310,000 match for the grant, said Bruce Reddock, the chamber’s director of economic development.
“It’s an opportunity to create that public-private partnership, glorify it and put it out there and make sure that we’re doing what’s right in the best interest of everybody,” Reddock said.
The land was nearly impossible to develop, and SLIBCO didn’t want to develop it, he said. Recreational amenities help attract young talent to grow the local workforce and population, and it will provide activities for both Midvalley residents and workers in the business park, Reddock said.
“For anyone that has ever been back there, you feel like you’ve stepped out of Northeast Pennsylvania and you ended up in Montana or Colorado,” Reddock said. “It’s a stunning place to be, and I think it’s exciting knowing that it’s no longer in a developer’s hands, so to speak.”
New conservation land
The conservation group now owns a 197.8-acre parcel east of Valley View Drive known as the Grassy Island Creek Preserve, and a 64.3-acre parcel near Route 247 called the Sterry Creek Preserve.
The land ties into the nearby 2,250-acre Dick and Nancy Eales Preserve. SLIBCO previously sold 1,200-plus acres to the Nature Conservancy — a global nonprofit — to create the preserve.
The LRCA first identified the land for conservation in a 1989 master plan, Executive Director Bernie McGurl said. Knowing the conservation group was interested in the land, SLIBCO reached out around 2018 or 2019, Reddock said.
The newly acquired property is just below the headwaters of two Lackawanna River tributaries, Grassy Island Creek and Sterry Creek, and is home to globally rare populations of scrub oak and pitch pine, McGurl said.
“It’s the top of the watershed for many of the streams that feed the Lackawanna River, so having it in its natural habitat configuration with plants and ground cover that exists up there really helps to preserve the integrity of the watershed,” he said.
Calling the land a “huge natural sponge,” McGurl said it helps to absorb stormwater falling on the mountain, reducing the volume of runoff and protecting areas along the streams from flooding.
Wildlife range from endangered moths to bats residing in manmade rock habitats, nicknamed bat hotels, he said. Large huckleberry patches also attract bears and deer, he said.
“We’re really thankful that we’ve accomplished this, and we see it as the beginning of more work to identify and obtain more lands for conservation in these areas,” McGurl said.
A path forward
McGurl envisions adding public trails, along with educational plaques describing what hikers might see when they visit.
McGurl anticipates spending the next 18 to 24 months planning for the property. The conservation group intends to work with adjacent property owners, the Pennsylvania Game Commission, the DCNR’s Bureau of Forestry, the Nature Conservancy, Jessup Borough, and Lackawanna County’s Department of Parks and Recreation.
“We want to get input and feedback from everybody that is going to have an interest in the property or need to get into the property at one time or another,” he said.
Adding conservation land is a major part of his organization’s mission, McGurl said.
“We’re happy that we’re able to accomplish this project, but it’s a drop in the bucket,” he said, describing up to 50,000 acres of undeveloped open space throughout the area that he believes should be conserved. “There’s a long, long list of work that needs to be done over the next 20 to 30 years to effect more of that conservation protection of these lands in the Lackawanna County area.”
Jessup Council President Jerry Crinella hopes the project is successful.
“It’ll draw people to Jessup to use those trails, and I would love to see the residents of Jessup use it,” he said. “More conservation land, in any area, is never a bad thing.”
As officials develop a plan, McGurl emphasized the land is not currently open to the public. However, the conservation group is seeking volunteers, especially those familiar with the land, to work with the organization, to help maintain and preserve the land, and to participate in the planning process, he said.
For information on volunteering, email lvc@lrca.org, call 570-347-6311, or visit lrca.org.
