During this crisis people have been spending more and more time in nature, that’s great! We hope that folks are building new bonds with nature and, hopefully, inspiring new vigilance towards protecting it. At Fair Shake we are lucky to work with so many groups doing the hard work to lay the dirt paths that we are all enjoying. So we want to dedicate some love to them. In this blog post we’ll tell you about the “trials” behind the trails you love!
Friends of White’s Woods, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, is currently beginning its third legal battle to protect White’s Woods, with the help of Fair Shake Environmental Legal Services. White’s Woods Nature Center is a 250-acre plot of land in White Township and portions of it are designated as Natural Heritage Areas for its high-quality forest. The park is criss-crossed with many hiking trails used by locals and visitors alike. The park was originally purchased in 1968 under Project 70.
Project 70 was an act passed into law by the Pennsylvania legislature in 1964. At that time, the legislature recognized that increasing urban and suburban sprawl were threatening many natural areas and that if the state didn’t act fast, most natural areas would become prohibitively expensive on the open market. The Act authorized millions of dollars to acquire park lands throughout the state for recreation, conservation, and historical purposes.
Because White’s Woods was purchased through Project 70 transaction, it cannot be leased or sold to private parties without the approval of the General Assembly. But that restriction has not stopped the Township from trying to log White’s Woods over the years. The Township attempted to log the woods in 1995 and again in 2008. Both times, Friends of White’s Woods fought hard to have their voice heard. Both times, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources determined that the proposed logging activities were not for purposes of conservation and refused to sign off on the plans.
Now, just 10 years later, the Township is at it again. This time, however, they have attempted to hide their true intentions by engaging the services of a “sustainable” forestry group and calling the whole process “invasive species removal”. By engaging private parties, the Township was able to circumvent normal public input processes. FWW really became aware of the plans only after filing Right to Know requests from the Township. Even those documents, however, do not show the full extent of what is being proposed. We are having to make assumptions about what is going on, due to the scarcity of detail in the obtained documents. What we have been able to glean is a plan 5x more devastating than the plan that DCNR denied in 2008 for going beyond conservation work.
Meanwhile, in the midst of this pandemic, the Township is plowing ahead by having the trees marked for harvest. In just the past week, hundreds of trees have been marked throughout one 50-acre parcel of White’s Woods. No one really knows when the woodsmen will be bringing in their axes and chainsaws to begin their work, but it is only a matter of time.
Things are moving fast, but Fair Shake has helped FWW alert the DCNR to the seemingly expedited plans to harvest this beautiful park. We hope that DCNR will step in to ensure that public input is heard before allowing the park to be irreparably harmed. Fair Shake will continue to be involved throughout this process and will keep this updated as more information is obtained.
Help us continue to protect the places you love by becoming a sustaining supporter of our work today!
