Coalition
Members

Apolacon Twp..
Bridgewater Twp.
Choconut Twp.
Forest Lake Twp.
Franklin Twp.
Jessup Twp.
Liberty Twp.
Middletown Twp.
Rush Twp.
Silver Lake Twp
Friendsville
Little Meadows
Montrose

A RURAL RESOURCE INVENTORY & REPORT FOR THE NORTHERN TIER COALITION OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY

JOHN BARNEY, DAVID GROSS, EDWARD LECLEAR AND THE STUDENTS OF NTRS 492-CONSERVATION PLANNING
DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES
CORNELL UNIVERSITY

(edited & some figures removed to increase internet transmission speed)

figure 1.1 - Northern Tier Coalition

The Northern Tier Coalition (the “Coalition” or “NTC”) is the product of several official and unofficial conservation and planning efforts underway in the landscape of the Susquehanna County (Figure 1.1 Northern Tier Coalition). It is also without a doubt the product of the prodigious spirit, grace and civic engagement of a particularly hearty and caring core group of people who share a commitment to preserving the rural quality of the place where they have lived, worked and raised their children. If one reads Emily Blackman’s History of Susquehanna County, this spirit is not new to this place. In fact, it has been here at least since the earliest settlers of European descent arrived and began to farm in the postglacial forested land of the Endless Mountains .

Since that time, the landscape of the Coalition has changed dramatically. Forests were clear cut for timber, and to open up pastures and cropland. Century farmsteads, stone walls and rural townships were erected. Hamlets arose in the vicinity of mills and important cross roads, and some became boroughs. Today, the farming is in decline, and the forest is returning. Timber production, quarrying and recreation are becoming important economic uses of the land. Rural hamlet development has been replaced by commuter, retiree and second home amenity development. State highways have superceded the original turnpikes, with snowmobiles, sub-compacts and pick-up trucks, instead of horses and carriages, now the predominant modes of transportation. And deer, turkeys and trout once relatively sparse are now so abundant they are in some cases impacting ecological processes.

Through all this change, the sense of rural community remains in tact and local traditions such as the Blueberry Festival, Rural Land days, the Montrose 4th of July Fair and the “high holy days of hunting season” remain as they ever were. Continuing a long standing process in the landscape, newcomers have married, retired or migrated into this landscape, and yet to date, they have been largely absorbed by the community. Most of them have in turn adopted both the community and the rural landscape as their own. As a result, the community remains rural and it is the intention of this community that it continue into the next century with not only its rural roots intact, but also its particular rural landscape and the quality of life it affords.

The intention to conserve the rural landscape has been manifested in a kind of activism that has taken many forms in recent years, including: efforts to save the Coleman Farm, the kick-off of the Montrose Community Greenway, the purchase of the Feldman Tract to increase the size of Salt Springs State Park, the overwhelmingly positive response to the farm easement program, the community response to the landfill in Middletown Township, and the founding of the Choconut Creek, Snake Creeks and Wyalusing Creek Watershed Associations. Other ongoing efforts, include those by organizations such as the Countryside Conservancy, the Edward L. Rose Conservancy, the North Branch Land Trust, Penn State Cooperative Extension and the Susquehanna Rails to Trails. A county comprehensive planning process is also underway led by Bob Templeton, Director of Susquehanna County Planning. The Endless Mountains Heritage program and other resources exist thanks to the people at Northern Tier Regional Planning. And no list would even be partially complete without mentioning the programs facilitated by Lillian Theophanis and the team at the Soil and Water Conservation District Office. These efforts cumulatively provide a context and background to the Coalition’s beginnings.

As one commentator tells it, the Coalition had its start as follows.

Debbie Dessinger of People’s National Bank, Paula Mattes, Lillian Theophanis and I were visiting with Joanne Kowalski (Penn. State Extension) with the topic, the Growing Smarter Conference in March. Joanne had a stack of brochures about an upcoming Planning Training Course for Townships in April of 2001 to be held at Shadowbrook in Tunkhannock. I think it was from PSATS. I offered to send them to all the Townships and Debbie said People’s would bear the cost of the mailing. Debbie and I addressed them and sent them off. Because of the mailing, several Supervisors from all over the County attended. It was of no use to us. Presenters were from larger counties downstate. At the break, all agreed that we needed something locally.

The first meeting was held at the Franklin Township Building. There were six Townships – Silver Lake, Choconut, Franklin, Forest Lake, Liberty and Bridgewater as well as Bob Templeton and Lillian Theophanis. The sign up sheet shows Tom Swan, Bill Stewart, Harvey Rosenkranz, Jeff West, David Darrow, Tim Wickizer, Bob Darrow, Dennis McLellan, Beverly Way, Ron Albert, Jack Davis, Bob Templeton, Carolyn Doolittle, Lillian Theophanis, Arnie Showers, Terry Dugan, Bill Bayne. Before we left, the agreement was to meet in July in Bridgewater. Although no one took any notes, the general idea as I recall, was, that we would meet and try to solidify a goal for future planning. The Townships had the same population base, we were all mystified by the planning process, we needed more help than PSATS was providing.

At that same time, John Barney and Dave Gross of Cornell were working on a Planning Conservation Class and had discussed this with Bob Templeton. As I recall, he then suggested that they might want to use our embryonic group as a base. John Barney came to our July meeting and we agreed that this process and the information from it could provide the needed base for our efforts to plan for our communities. You cannot imagine three things: how brave it was, for those Supervisors to actually pledge tax money for this, how innovative for Bob Templeton and Lillian Theophanis to support this (first in the County) and, how central Cornell was to the beginning of the NTC. We had hoped that the Planning Commission would pay for the publishing of the work but, the commitment of money if they did not, was central. It meant that the Townships were serious.

So, the beginning of the NTC was really a triangular effort between the town supervisors, county officials and Cornell. Thereafter, every few weeks, another and yet another municipality came on board. Tom Swan became the Chair and Bill Bayne agreed to be Co-Chair. In October, Mary Long added another chore to her roster and agreed to be Treasurer. I became Secretary by default.

The name Northern Tier was for convenience. We were the municipalities on the top half of the County. Northwest Tier was awkward. Coalition is (roughly) a temporary alliance of factions for some specific purpose. All of this was before the events of 9/11 and not a politically charged name. As you recall, I was determined not to be the Secretary. I did agree to be Communications, as long as I could use my computer and e-mail. A name was needed for the Group Mailing. Northern Tier Coalition was born. Recently, we revisited the name and no one had a better one so we kept that. It has for the most part been shortened to NTC.

The other night, at our first NTC meeting of the year, I looked out at the members and my heart swelled with pride and appreciation. Sitting before me was a mix of crusty old guys and seasoned women and young folks. They had given up a night to their community and to the future. Most of them give up many nights and not a few days. They are Jesus’s Salt of the Earth.

If I could do a graphic of this, I would put the Supervisors on the tip of the arrow, the others on the bottom and as the shaft, the residents of the municipalities. The area of the Coalition can be described in two different ways: one by reference to the political boundaries and the other by reference to watershed boundaries. The Coalition currently consists of the 13 municipalities in the northwestern corner of Susquehanna County. Susquehanna County is located in the northeastern part of the state of Pennsylvania on the border with New York State. Of those municipalities, only Choconut Twp., Liberty Twp., Montrose Boro., and Silver Lake Twp. have comprehensive plans in place. The coalition is located on the boundary between the upper and middle Susquehanna River sub-basins and includes significant parts of the following watersheds (11 digit HUC Code): Apolacon Creek, Choconut Creek, Meshoppen Creek, Salt Lick Creek, Snake and Little Snake Creeks, Rural Resource Inventory & Report Page 4 Tunkhannock Creek, Wappassening Creek, and the Wyalusing Creek Main and East Branches. Currently, there are watershed associations active in the Choconut, Snake Creeks, and most recently, the Wyalusing Creek Main Branch (Figure 1.2 Local Watersheds and Associations).

figure 1.2 - Local Watersheds

The involvement of Cornell University began early on in the Coalition’s process. A team composed of David Gross, John Barney and Eve Minson from the Department of Natural Resources at Cornell had been engaged by the Edward L. Rose Conservancy in a number of projects in the Coalition Area. Some of these projects included a Conservation and Natural Resource Inventory for the Conservancy, a preliminary assessment of local lake systems in the Snake Creek watershed, and preliminary work on the Montrose Community Greenway. Much of the information and community interactions provided the background for the current effort. In the fall of 2001, a Cornell class on “Conservation Planning” taught by David Gross and John Barney took on the initial natural resource inventory of the Coalition area and did research into conservation related issues of interest to the supervisors of various townships. This booklet is a synthesis, and represents the cumulative efforts by the students as well as other data, information and analysis assembled subsequently by Ed LeClear, one of the students, and John Barney.

This booklet is designed to inform and promote the planning process in the communities of the Northern Tier Coalition. It is organized into six sections, each designed to inform the following section. The first two sections detail the general physio-ecological and cultural landscapes of the Northern Coalition as a whole. These descriptions are intended to provide the general context of natural and cultural systems within which the planning process will occur. The third section is a brief review of the natural resource inventory of the Northern Coalition – with specific focus on problem areas for development, important wildlife and farming areas as well as unique cultural & heritage areas. The fourth section of this booklet is a more specific look at the characteristics of the individual townships and their natural and cultural resource inventories. Each of these four sections provide the basis for the following two – the analysis of the conservation targets and strategies and the comprehensive planning process. The final comprehensive planning process section of the booklet is designed to provide assistance in designing a progressive comprehensive plan which will address the township’s conservation targets and work to implement a number of strategies aimed at preserving the rural character and natural resources of the Coalition’s communities.

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