Greater Harrisburg's Community Magazine

Hearings Scheduled For Proposed Clarks Valley Land Sale

A map of Capital Region Water land around the DeHart, with the parcel proposed to be sold at right, in purple. Courtesy of Capital Region Water.

A map of Capital Region Water land around the DeHart, with the parcel proposed to be sold at right, in purple. Courtesy of Capital Region Water.

Harrisburg’s water and sewer authority has scheduled two public hearings to discuss a proposed Clarks Valley land sale.

The first hearing will take place on Wednesday, Jan. 28, at 6 p.m. at the Heinz-Menaker Senior Center at 1824 N. 4th St., Harrisburg.

The second will take place Tuesday, Feb. 10, at 6 p.m. at the Dauphin County Agriculture and Natural Resources Center at 1451 Peters Mountain Rd., Dauphin.

The proposed sale would seek to generate revenue for Capital Region Water while also ensuring the undeveloped land will be conserved in perpetuity.

Under the proposal, the Conservation Fund, a national environmental charity, would purchase a 384-acre parcel from the authority’s holdings around the DeHart Reservoir, which supplies the city’s drinking water.

The Conservation Fund would then transfer the land to the Pennsylvania Game Commission, which already controls two tracts of gaming lands on either side of the reservoir.

The deed would include language compelling the Game Commission to prevent incompatible future development, according to Kyle Shenk, the Conservation Fund’s Pennsylvania representative.

Clarks Valley, along the Kittatinny Ridge, forms part of a critical migration corridor for raptors and other birds, Shenk said.

The $1 million purchase would be funded by the federal government, under a Department of Defense program that aims to conserve undeveloped land around military installations.

Fort Indiantown Gap, a National Guard training facility near the reservoir, would partner with the Conservation Fund and the Game Commission in the sale.

At their Dec. 17 meeting, Capital Region Water board members voted 2-1 in favor of further exploring the proposed sale.

In addition to the meetings, the authority is soliciting public input through its website, www.capitalregionwater.com, where it will collect comments through Feb. 18.

A final vote on the proposal is expected in late February.

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