CHEAT LAKE ENVIRONMENT AND RECREATION
ASSOCIATION
DRAFT—please comment a.s.a.p.
Date: March 2, 2009
Charles L.
Simons, Recreation & Environmental Affairs
Allegheny
Energy Supply Company
4350
Northern Pike
Monroeville, PA 15146-2841
Subject: Lake Lynn Hydro Station FERC Project No. 2459, License Article 417.
2009 RECREATION PLAN UPDATE
CLEAR
agrees with the conclusion that the “winter boat launch facility” near the Park
headquarters, on the peninsula, should be open for usage only after
the “summer pool height” season has passed. That is when it is needed, and that is
when it’s usage will not interfere with the users of the Park and
Trail.
CLEAR
believes that significant upgrades are needed at the end of the South Trail, for
year-round support of trail users.
First, the “observation deck” formerly located there should be
re-established with a floating platform in the Lake to permit temporary tie-ups
for small boats, as canoes or small motor craft, so as to provide access from
the Lake to the end of the trail.
This would also serve security, law-enforcement and recreation
activities. Secondly, a bicycle rack and a picnic table should
be located at the end of the trail to serve the recreational activities already
present. If trail users were able
to lock their bicycles to a rack, this would free the individual(s) for walking
into the Cheat Haven Wildlife Viewing Area.
CLEAR is
supportive of a “primitive walking trail” in the Cheat Haven Wildlife Viewing
Area. We have had some involvement
with the on-going effort to establish this trail, which would benefit from
appropriate signage and/or postings.
CLEAR
believes that the “privileged permit sites” should be administered via a set of
rules that are known to the public and that annual statistics should be reported
on the exact number of sites, the number of years each site has been leased by
the same individual or family (with a limit of 5 years in the future for each
site), and the charge made by AE for each site. Procedures which are fair and just to
the public would involve a rotational procedure that provided an opportunity to
the public to participate in these sites.
At present, we suspect that a family can hold a site indefinitely passing
it down from one generation to another.
The current condition of many sites is “poor”. That is, there is substantial debris on
a number of the sites, there are permanent structures on a number of them, and
there appears to be no common standard for their maintenance.
CLEAR
believes that the gate at Manning Run which limits access to the South Trail
during the winter months could be opened during the daylight hours so as to
permit hiking or cross-country ski access. There is little or no demonstrated
security risk that justifies excluding hikers or skiers during the winter
months. The primary facilities that
need to be protected are north of the Manning Run
gate.
CLEAR
believes that the Lake level should be reduced by one or two feet during the
summer boating season, particularly on week-ends and holidays, to reduce the
shore-line erosion from boat wake, given that the current level of strong waves
during these periods is substantially eroding the shoreline at many
locations.
CLEAR
recommends and is supportive of a study of the “carrying capacity” of Cheat Lake
for boating (various types), fishing (various types), hiking, camping, docking,
etc. The 19 picnic sites on the
hillside loop are rarely used, so this area could be restructured to permit
overnight camping for individual families, with a limit of three days stay, for
example. AE admits that “the least
used facility is the picnic tables located in the picnic loop and near the
Lake.” [See page 7 of the AE Recreation Plan Update, dated February
2009.]
CLEAR
believes that it is important to note that swimming is occurring in Cheat Lake,
at a number of locations. This is
primarily off boats moored in the Ruble Run and Morgan Run backwaters, at the
Emma Kaufmann Camp, and off many of the various docks around the Lake. Swimming
is not uncommon at the Old Iron Bridge, under the Interstate Bridge, and off the
old piers of the former bridge over the Manning Run backwater. It would be reasonable to authorize CLEAR
to establish a limited swimming area for children at the Mill Stone Point, which
is adjacent to the “day-use boat docks” and the “fish cleaning station”.
CLEAR
believes that a Ranger should be hired to work five days each week during the
summer months in support of recreation, health and safety, and security at the
Park and Trail. This ranger would
be knowledgeable in the fields of recreation and the environment as well as the
history of the region. The ranger
would also be authorized to provide security functions for the Park and
Trail. Given current level of usage
of the Park and Trail as well as the level of boating and fishing involved with
the Lake, this is an overdue feature for the facilities
involved.
CLEAR is
supportive of the establishment of a “Sheepskin Trail” that would extend from north of the
area, to interface with the Cheat Lake Park and Trail at the Dam, that would
extend over to and through Pt. Marion, PA, and then south along the Monongahela
River to the WV State Line.
We are
submitting these “initial comments”
by the published deadline of March 2, 2009 and intend to participate in the
Public Meeting at the Cheat Lake Fire Hall on Wednesday, March 11, 2009. We reserve the opportunity to extend or
clarify our comments for two weeks after the Public
Meeting.
Duane G.
Nichols
Duane G.
Nichols, President
Cheat Lake
Environment & Recreation Association
330 Dream
Catcher Circle
Morgantown,
WV 26508