Should Pa. finalize land swap to reopen once-popular waterfall trail? Here’s how to comment.

Pennsylvania park officials are accepting public comment on a land exchange proposal that could reopen a once-popular waterfall trail to hiking.

The proposal involves the Pennsylvania Game Commission conveying about 450 acres in Carbon County to the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Bureau of State Parks.

This land in Nesquehoning and Lehigh Township, just outside Jim Thorpe, surrounds the waterfalls on Glen Onoko Run, a Lehigh River tributary. It’s now managed by the Game Commission as part of State Game Lands 141. It would become part of Lehigh Gorge State Park.

The Game Commission effective May 1, 2019, closed the trail alongside the falls due to severely eroded trails that created deadly conditions for hikers. Access is still open to the Overlook and Shortcut trails, which form a steep 1.6-mile loop offering a panoramic view of the Jim Thorpe area but provide access only to the Upper Falls.

DCNR officials, in turn, would convey to the Game Commission about 332 acres that abut State Game Lands 141 in the Lehigh Gorge park, which extends northward along the Lehigh River from just below Glen Onoko. Additionally, the Game Commission would receive about 6 acres the DCNR owns in Pine Township, Crawford County. The Game Commission in May began construction on a new Pymatuning Wildlife Learning Center slated to open in spring 2027 in that area.

In a public notice published Saturday in the Pennsylvania Code and Bulletin, DCNR Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn wrote: “The acreage the Bureau proposes to convey to the Commission affords better hunting opportunities and manageable habitats, compared to the steep slopes of the glen. The acreage at Pymatuning is immediately adjacent to the future site of the Commission’s Pymatuning Wildlife Learning Center.”

Pennsylvania’s Board of Game Commissioners in April approved the land swap. It would be completed after the final subdivision of the Glen Onoko parcel by the Game Commission and the passage of Pennsylvania’s 2025-26 budget authorizing the funding and staffing necessary for the Bureau of State Parks to safely construct and administer the trail system and other recreational and ecological amenities at Glen Onoko, according to the public notice.

Budget negotiations are expected to continue past the June 30 deadline for legislators to approve the spending plan, a top Republican said last week.

“DCNR is planning to make upgrades to the trail,” state Rep. Doyle Heffley, R-Carbon, told constituents in an update on the proposal via Facebook earlier this month. “They want to keep the natural beauty of the falls and the trail, but they’re going to do some enhancements to make it a little bit safer and provide access to those individuals that want to come out and enjoy this.”

Recent appraisals estimate the land proposed to be exchanged to be of equal value, according to the Pennsylvania Bulletin notice.

Members of the public can learn more about the proposed land swap by reviewing project documents through July 31 at the Hickory Run State Park Office

Oral or written comments or questions concerning this proposed exchange may be addressed to John Hallas, Director, Bureau of State Parks, Attn: RMPD—Planning Section, P.O. Box 8551, Harrisburg, PA 17105-8551; by phone at 717-787-6640; and by email at RA-Park-Operations@pa.gov.

Comments must be received within 45 days following the June 21 publication of the notice to become part of the official document used in the final decision process, officials said.

A public informational meeting may be scheduled if there is a “significant amount of public comment,” according to the notice.

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Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com.