Agencies fund West PA campground, rehabilitate park, moth spray

Several agencies announced a variety of new projects that are happening across Pennsylvania, including a new campground, the rehabilitation of a park and spraying for moths.

Here’s a look at some the developments that happened over the past week:

Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn visited Pymatuning State Park on Monday to break ground on a campground at Pymatuning State Park’s Tuttle Point.

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“We are extremely pleased to be here today as construction begins on a revitalized campground at Tuttle Point,” Dunn said in a release. The $8 million Tuttle Point Campground project will see the complete overhaul of the campground’s infrastructure from new water and sewage lines and a new sewage pumping station, to the installation of exterior improvements such as brand-new buildings to house a water treatment facility, comfort station, beach restroom and the repaving of the roadways and parking lots as well as the installation of a new fishing pier and boat launch.

The project will have 112 campsites with inland campsites having water, sewer and electric hookups, as well as several ADA accessible campsites. Campsites near the water will have water and electric hookups. In addition, the campground’s water tank will be refurbished during the project.

The project is expected to be completed by April.

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Lackawanna County

Dickson City received a $250,000 grant to help rehabilitate Bernard Siminski Memorial (Elm Street) Park.

“We at the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) understand how important local parks are to connecting people to outdoors,” DCNR Deputy Secretary Mike Walsh said in a release. “That is why we are proud to support this project and hundreds of other projects across Pennsylvania, which help communities meet the outdoor recreation needs of their people. We are excited to see what is in store for Bernard Siminski Memorial Park because of this grant and the commitment of the borough council to a wonderful site plan.”

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The funding will go toward construction of basketball, tennis, pickleball and volleyball courts as well as a new comfort station, dugouts, pedestrian walkway, parking area, new fencing and improvements to ADA access and landscaping.

Dickson City has developed its own master plan for the site and has been working on a downtown market study as well as a streetscape plan to provide improvements to the borough’s greenspaces as well as connections to the Lackawanna River and the nearby Lackawanna River Heritage Trail.

Spongy/gypsy moth control

The Pennsylvania Game Commission plans to spray more than 62,000 acres of State Game Lands this spring.

The agency reports spraying will occur on 27 different State Game Lands – 62,934 acres in all – and will begin as soon as leaf-out occurs and spongy moth egg masses hatch, likely in late April and May.

“Those participating in spring gobbler seasons or otherwise enjoying state game lands may encounter aircraft spraying forested areas for spongy moths,” Paul Weiss, Game Commission chief forester, said in the announcement. “We recognize some hunters might be temporarily affected by these activities, but disturbances are brief and only temporary, and by protecting these valuable habitats against a destructive, invasive pest, the forests will provide hunters the opportunity to chase gobblers there for generations to come.”

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Spongy moths previously were known by the common name gypsy moth, but the Entomological Society of America changed the name in March. More information on spongy moths and the Game Commission’s spraying program, including a map updating the status of this year’s spraying, is available on an interactive web page at www.pgc.pa.gov.

Most of the blocks of forest to be sprayed on game lands are expected to be treated within one day, often within only a few hours.

The DCNR is also planning to spray for the moths.

DCNR’s Bureau of Forestry will oversee spraying of 220 sites totaling 209,838 acres. The agency's announcment includes portions of 13 state forests, 10 state parks, and sections of the Allegheny National Forest in 20 counties located in southcentral, central, northcentral, northwest, and northeast Pennsylvania.

State parks scheduled to be sprayed include Pine Grove Furnace, Cumberland County; RB Winter, Union County; Chapman, Warren County; Sand Bridge, Union County; Parker Dam, Clearfield County; Elliot, Clearfield County; Sizerville, Potter County; Ravensburg, Clinton County; Little Pine, Lycoming County; and Prince Gallitzin, Cambria County.

Last summer, the DCNR reports a total of 203,569 acres were treated.

Brian Whipkey is the outdoors columnist for USA TODAY Network sites in Pennsylvania. Contact him at bwhipkey@gannett.com and sign up for our weekly Go Outdoors PA newsletter email on your website's homepage under your login name. Follow him on social media @whipkeyoutdoors.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Tuttle Point, Bernard Siminski Memorial Park to receive West PA funds