Genesee River Wilds Project

Benches: Benches are appropriate for fishing access points, boat launch areas, and other locations. Resting points for hikers and bicyclists along recreational trails are essential for small children who tire easily. Some of the most frequent usage of such trails comes from people over 50 who may need such accommodations to enjoy their experience.

Boat Launches: The project’s goal is a boat launch for canoes and kayaks every three to four (3-4) miles along the Genesee River. Boat launches should include parking lots, some of which should be large enough to accommodate commercial boat shuttle services that require buses and boat trailers. Priority in the construction, size, and number of boat launches will be according to river discharge and navigability: (1) From Belvidere, NY, northward (downstream), the Genesee River usually maintains a flow sufficient to sustain boating and is wide enough that trees that have fallen into the river do not present major obstacles. (2) From Wellsville, NY, to Belvidere, NY, the river maintains enough flow to sustain canoes and kayaks for most of the year. At some points it is narrow enough that fallen trees present challenges, especially for inexperienced boaters. (3) From Genesee, PA, to Wellsville, NY, the river is difficult to navigate, sometimes obstructed by fallen trees, and has impractically low water for most of the summer. (4) South (upstream) from Genesee, PA, the river is too small to justify investment in any kind of boat launches.

Camping Areas: Camping areas will be located every 10-15 miles along the Genesee River to accommodate multi-day trips along the interstate trail and the river by foot, bicycle, or boat.  In some cases this can include private campgrounds or municipal parks in which a local community creates a uniquely hospitable arrangement to accommodate travelers from outside the area.  But in most cases, bridge-side parks and public day-use recreational areas are not appropriate locations for camping areas because of the greater maintenance costs and increased likelihood of abuses if camping is allowed in such locations.  Instead, camping areas more typically will be located as far as possible from roads to assure the safety of campers, reduce vandalism and misuse of the site, and minimize littering and related maintenance costs.  Such campsites will be further protected from misuse by being surrounded by numerous acres of protected land.  Small rustic campsites isolated from roads and accessible only by trail or river should include at least a few rudimentary features, such as a pit latrine, fire pit, and large metal bear-safe food storage box. Other features may include an open Appalachian-Trail-style shelter. These small campsites will operate on a carry-in/carry-out policy to reduce maintenance. Ideally there will be at least two or three much larger campgrounds with road access, hot showers, and other elaborate facilities along the Genesee River between Lyman Run State Park in PA and Letchworth State Park in NY. One of these large campgrounds may include a new state park in Allegany County, NY.

Financial Incentives to Landowners: Rent, easements that provide tax reductions, and other forms of assistance are available to compensate farmers and other landowners for reforestation of parts of their land near the river, constructing fences and other structures that limit the access of cattle to tributary streams, recreational access to the river, and other types of cooperation. In some cases this may take the form of outright purchase. Programs are administered by the Genesee Valley Conservancy, Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, the USDA, the Allegany County Soil and Water Conservation District (New York State Conservation Reserve Program), and other federal, state, and local offices on the links web page.

Fishery Restoration: Fishery restoration will occur partly through reforestation along the river. More proactive construction of fish habitats will increase the fish population even more. This will support and attract more wildlife dependent on fish, such as eagles, great blue herons, and river otters. Better fishing and more wildlife bring the economic benefits of more tourism.

Fishing Access Points: Easier access to fishing attracts more tourism. Some access points should include structures that accommodate children and people with disabilities.

Genesee River Heritage Park: Tentative plans include an environmentally sustainable county park in Allegany County, NY, with hemlocks, white pines, and other features that offer reforestation, conservation, and the reduced mowing costs associated with heavily shaded forest floors. This will recreate the features the area had before the arrival of white settlers. Over time, a portion of the park safely away from the floodplain might include log cabins that would mimic colonial models while functioning as restrooms, a display area for the work of local artists, and a concession stand. Trails, pavilions, gazebos, an amphitheater, picnic tables, children’s playgrounds, swimming and wading areas, a staging area for river excursions by watercraft such as rubber rafts and canoes, and a few inexpensive structures located safely away from the river can be included that do not disturb the theme of reforestation and conservation.

Land: The project benefits from cooperative landowners who may secure conservation easements to reduce taxes or some other mutually beneficial agreement. But river conservation and development of recreational infrastructure is accomplished most easily when land is acquired through purchase or donation. Acquisition of land is the top priority in the project’s goals and budgetary allocations. To assure that any given piece of land provides a profitable attraction for tourism and sustaining the economy of the surrounding area, an amount equivalent to a small proportion (such as 10%) of its purchase price will usually be devoted to providing it with environmentally sustainable recreational infrastructure such as trails, boat launches, and other features. Since the Genesee River Wilds Project is a coalition of groups and organizations, purchased or donated land can be secured in a variety of ways and by a variety of organizations that share complementary goals. These include state conservation departments, private non-profit groups such as the Genesee Valley Conservancy (NY) and the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy (PA), local business associations and chambers of commerce, and other groups. Conservation easements that protect the future usage of a piece of land are often recommended.

Maps: Maps are essential for both marketing and usage of the riverside park system. At present, many of the recreational resources near the upper Genesee River do not appear on many commercial maps (although PA markets its resources better than NY; e.g., few commercial maps indicate that Allegany County, NY, has over 55,000 acres of state forests and wildlife management areas). Rectifying this is an immediate goal. Small kiosks with a supply of recreational maps and all-weather mapboards should be located at trailheads, campgrounds, boating access points, and other strategic locations.

Municipal Parks: In addition to protecting undeveloped areas along the Genesee River for conservation and recreation, one of the project’s goals is restoration of developed areas in the towns along the river and its major tributary streams. This may include creating new forested municipal parks and reconfiguring existing riverside parks so that they are more environmentally sustainable. Municipalities that collaborate might qualify for technical assistance, grants, and privileged access to federal and state funds that support the Genesee River Wilds Project. This may provide incentives to move winter salt piles, paved parking lots, and other facilities away from locations close to the river.

Observation Structures for Birds and Other Wildlife: These may include: (1) Viewing platforms and decks at various locations. (2) A river wetlands trail of at least one mile in length consisting of a paved footpath and/or an elevated boardwalk. This will allow children, the elderly, and people with disabilities to see the bald eagles, beavers, and other wildlife along the unique ecological corridor of a swampy wetlands at the river’s edge, which is otherwise accessible only by adventurers in kayaks or canoes. Interpretive signs should be included. One model for such an educational wetlands trail is the Pochuck Creek and Floodplain Crossing in New Jersey. This popular tourist attraction and successful site for school field trips consists of a mile-long boardwalk that carries a section of the Appalachian Trail through a large swamp. A similar construction could be incorporated into the trail system along the Genesee River.

Pocket Parks: Small parks with just a few simple environmentally sustainable features will be constructed at numerous points along the river. Even a small boat launch next to a bridge often can accommodate a picnic table, a rain shelter, a children’s swingset, and a flowerbed. These small parks can be maintained by a neighbor, township, or volunteer group.

Parking Lots: Parking lots provide more safety than impromptu pull-off areas because they reduce the temptation to park dangerously close to roads. They are essential for making a recreational feature accommodating for actual usage by tourists unfamiliar with an area. Well-marked parking lots with inviting signs should be placed at trailheads, river access points, and other locations. Some should be large enough to provide access for buses carrying school children on field trips and commercial shuttle services for hiking and river excursions. Parking lots made of gravel are relatively inexpensive, reduce runoff, and discourage speeding in areas where children may be present. Since parking areas typically function as the beginning or end of a recreational outing, in some cases they should be complemented by picnic tables, restrooms, and other simple features.

Pavilions and Rain Shelters: Pavilions are relatively inexpensive and are essential to family reunions and other large gatherings. Usage policies may include permission to use the pavilion at no cost on a first-come, first-serve basis if it is not already officially reserved by someone else who has paid a small fee. In some cases, such as at small fishing access points, a small rain shelter may provide a welcome alternative to being drenched, especially for people with disabilities and families with small children.

Picnic Tables: Picnic tables should be located not only in parks, but also in strategic locations at intervals of approximately every two miles along the Genesee River Wilds Trail and the Genesee Valley Greenway. These will provide rest stops for hikers and bicyclers.

Reforestation (Riparian Buffers): Reforestation of the floodplain of the Genesee River and selected tributaries is the fundamental technique for flood control, wildlife habitat preservation, fishery restoration, and the other goals of the project. Trees should dominate even when portions of newly acquired lands are designated for small grassy open spaces, gravel parking lots, or paved pads for boat launches or other recreational features. Every effort should be made to create a forested riparian buffer of at least 300 feet on each side of the Genesee River and at least 100 feet on each side of major tributary streams (e.g., Cryder Creek, Dyke Creek, Angelica Creek, Black Creek, Wiscoy Creek). In many places a smaller width will be necessary to accommodate towns, farms, and other existing development. In other locations a wider piece of land along the river or one of its tributaries may be secured or a mutually beneficial strategy can be developed with cooperative landowners.  In some cases it may be possible to attain the ideal of a forested zone extending 1/2 mile on each side of the river, which is the width recommended for the highest class of federally protected rivers.

Restroom Facilities: Restroom facilities should be placed at selected wilderness trailheads, full-service campgrounds, and intervals of approximately 10-12 miles along the Genesee River trail system. These should include potable water spigots for hikers, boaters, and other travelers. Costs and maintenance can be optimized if each restroom is located where highways, hiking trails, and canoe-kayak access points are close enough to each other that a single restroom can serve more than one transportation system (road, trail, and river).

Scenic Overlooks: Areas accessible by car and hiking trail for scenic viewing with parking lots, educational signs, picnic tables, and restroom facilities should be constructed, especially where a unique opportunity for viewing wildlife or a geological feature is present.

Signs, Educational: Educational signs should be posted near key natural features such as wetlands and at readily accessible trailheads or boating access points. This is especially vital at viewing platforms, educational boardwalks, scenic overlooks, and other features that may attract significant tourist traffic.

Signs, Marketing: Signs are more effective marketing tools than websites for passing travelers and other people not already looking for a known feature. At present, signs are especially lacking on the NY side, so that travelers are not even aware when they pass within sight of the huge swaths of state forests in the upper Genesee River watershed. Signs need to be added along Interstate 86, Interstate 390, NY Route 19, PA Route 449, and other highways. Signs near Letchworth State Park (NY), Allegany State Park (NY), Allegheny National Forest (PA), Lyman Run State Park (PA), and Pine Creek Gorge (PA) should alert visitors to the neighboring Genesee River Wilds recreational system and to the other park systems nearby. This would help integrate all of these recreational areas into one massive two-state recreational system (northwestern tier, PA; southwestern tier, NY). This approach would advertise each park system by the combined size of the whole.

State Parks: The Genesee River Wilds Project will provide a necklace of parks and greenways stretching between Letchworth State Park, NY, and Lyman Run State Park, PA. This patchwork of parks and greenways is not a single state park. Instead, it is a system of parks that will include county, municipal, and other smaller parks and forested recreational areas along the Genesee River. But its combined magnitude will perform many of the same functions as a massive national or state park. At some point this comprehensive function may be complemented by the acquisition of a large piece of land in Allegany County, NY, that can be transformed into a full-service New York State park. This would be integrated into the larger park system because it would be strategically located along the Genesee River between Letchworth State Park, NY, and Lyman Run State Park, PA. The expense of a new state park in this area is all the more justified because Allegany County does not have a state park. The criteria supplied by NY state officials for creating a new state park in this area is securing land that includes: (1) a minimum of 500 acres and preferably closer to 3,000 acres; (2) significant frontage directly on the Genesee River that can be used for boating, swimming, and other recreation; (3) a location far enough south from Letchworth State Park to avoid redundancy. These criteria suggest that any new state park would have to be located directly on the Genesee River between Scio and Caneadea. The extent of development along the river in this area will make it difficult to secure land that meets these criteria. But progress in creating the more comprehensive system of contiguous parks and forested recreational areas along the river will provide many of the same economic and recreational benefits. As this riverside conservation corridor is developed, it may eventually result in securing a key piece of land that can be developed into a new state park. Hence priority is currently placed on the more attainable goal of establishing the planned patchwork of parks and reforestation zones along the river.

Swimming Areas: The chief obstacle to swimming in a river or creek is usually muddy banks that hinder access to rock spurs and other features that provide attractive swimming areas. In many cases a boat launch that includes a cement pad, pavement, or large stable rocks can do double duty as a swimming area. Major camping areas should include access points for swimming or wading, with safety and potential damage through flooding kept in mind.

Trail, Interstate Rail-Trail System: Create a 230-mile long hiking-bicycling rail-trail reaching from Rochester, NY, to Williamsport, PA. This will be created by constructing linking trails to connect existing trail systems, including the Genesee Valley Greenway (NY), the WAG Trail (NY), and the Pine Creek Trail (PA). Much of this 230-mile length is already fully functional. Out of the total of ca. 120 miles in NY, only about 20 miles has no trail at all (between Belfast and Wellsville). The most developed sections in NY extend from Rochester to Letchworth State Park. Out of the total of ca. 110 miles in PA, approximately half (the Pine Creek Trail) is already fully developed.  Regional planning is also now at an advanced stage for the section of ca. 40 miles from the northern end of the Pine Creek Trail to the NY/PA border in Genesee, PA (planning maps for the Potter County, PA, section are now available through the North Central Pennsylvania Regional Planning and Development Commission). A new linking trail for the ca. 15 miles between the southern end of the Pine Creek trail at Jersey Shore, PA, and Williamsport, PA, is also being constructed (as planned by the Lycoming County Planning Commission, PA). The most developed section in PA is in the Pine Creek Gorge. The Genesee River Wilds Project is mainly concerned with sections in Potter County, PA, and Allegany County, NY, which include: (1) PA Linking Trail: On the PA side, the interstate trail will require a link moving northwestward from the northern end of the Pine Creek Trail to one of the sources of the Genesee River and from there to the NY/PA border at Genesee, PA. At this point this new linking trail would connect with the WAG Trail (a rail-trail, still relatively undeveloped, named from its use of a section of the former Wellsville-Addison-Galeton railroad bed reaching from Wellsville, NY, south to the NY/PA border). This linking trail of ca. 40 miles on the PA side will pass near the “Triple Divide” and close to Lyman Run State Park (both in Potter County, PA). (2) NY Linking Trail: On the NY side, the interstate trail will require a new link about 20 miles long between Wellsville and Belfast. This will connect the northern end of the WAG Trail (which extends from Wellsville south to the NY/PA border) to the Genesee Valley Greenway (which turns westward away from the Genesee River in Belfast). The tentative route of this NY linking trail is: (a) Between Wellsville and Scio, either the east side or west side of the river. (b) Between Scio and Belmont, probably on the east side of the river. (c) Between Belmont and Belvidere, on either the east side or west side of the river (or both if a footbridge is constructed). (d) Between Belvidere and Belfast, on the east side of the river. Since the Genesee Valley Greenway will retain its distinctive name, the entire trail from the headwaters area of the Genesee River in PA to Belfast, NY, may be treated as the “Genesee River Wilds Trail.” (3) Opening: Completing the trail is a long-term project. However, trails such as the Appalachian Trail provide a model for immediate usage by provisionally incorporating back roads, highway bridges, and other developed features into the trail system in areas where a forested trail corridor has not yet been secured. Thus the “Genesee River Wilds Trail” can be opened immediately by provisionally identifying the route of the necessary linking trails with roads, with an effort to avoid the traffic on major highways. The missing link moving northward from Lyman Run State Park in PA can provisionally be identified with the road northward through Kibbeville Corners and West Bingham to Genesee, PA. The missing link between Wellsville and Belfast can provisionally be identified with Route 19 between Wellsville and Scio; the road on the west side of the river between Scio and Belmont; and the roads on the east side of the river between Belmont and Belfast. (4) Conservation corridor: The trail is just one narrow thread of the wider conservation corridor along the Genesee River. Whenever possible, acquisitions needed for creating the trail along the river should include additional land for this wider corridor. As demonstrated by the Appalachian Trail system, which usually is within a corridor a few hundred or more feet wide, a wide corridor reduces privacy concerns that nearby landowners may have over trail construction. (NOTE:  Maps and information about current state of planning for the entire 230-mile trail system in both NY and PA can be obtained from Allen Kerkeslager at  akerkesl@sju.edu ).

Waste Management: Historically the upper Genesee River watershed has been challenged by the limited budgetary resources that its impoverished rural communities can contribute to sewage infrastructure and by unsustainable approaches to locating waste facilities in proximity to the river.  This is most vividly illustrated by an EPA superfund site in Wellsville that once included an industrial waste dump. More responsible planning places dumps, sewage treatment plants, and other waste management facilities in safer locations and at greater distances from the river and its tributaries. This will prevent the inevitable cases of human carelessness, construction failure, flooding, runoff from melting snow, and other threats from endangering the water quality of tributary streams, the river, and Lake Ontario.

Water Quality Monitoring: Establish a broader program and increased number of stations for water quality monitoring along the Genesee River and its major tributaries. This will assure that municipal sewage treatment centers, waste facilities, industrial zones, businesses, and agricultural installations are functioning properly.

Water Supply Alternatives: Development and population growth along the river will eventually strain the river’s ability to supply water for drinking, irrigation, fish and wildlife habitat, recreational boating, and other purposes. Planning for the future requires addressing this in advance by developing alternative water sources.

Wetlands Restoration: Since development along the Genesee River and its floodplain has historically come at the expense of surrounding wetlands, consideration should be given to wetlands restoration. This may include purchasing and removing abandoned shopping centers and vacant parking lots that originally were constructed over marshes and swamps adjacent to the river or one of its tributaries; creating small channels or dams to restore swamps or oxbow lakes; and removing pipes that have diverted the flow of springs away from the depleted wetlands that they originally had supplied.  Wetlands are vital for wildlife habitat.   Wetlands restoration also provides an efficient and relatively inexpensive means of restoring water quality.  Cattails and other aquatic weeds found in wetlands absorb arsenic and other toxins that seep into the nearby river system.  Creating a forested buffer along the river that allows the river enough room to create new oxbow lakes and replenish older riverside wetlands thus provides an inexpensive way for nature to take its own course in restoring the river’s purity.  The same assumptions can justify a more proactive restoration of wetlands, as is demonstrated by the artificial wetlands created to purify water at the EPA Superfund site next to the Genesee River in Wellsville, NY. 

Wildlife Habitat Restoration: Reforestation and other environmental protection projects along the river and its tributaries will help restore and preserve wildlife habitat. In a few locations some additional effort may be justified, such as restoring wetlands or assisting farmers to build fences that limit cattle access to a beaver pond or tributary stream.

Zoning and Development Policies: Encourage townships to establish zoning, construct forested parks that function as conservation areas, and pursue other policies that direct development away from the river and its floodplain. Help townships secure the funding that FEMA’s flood insurance program and other government programs offer to encourage such policies. Support for these policies can be acquired through education about their long-term financial benefits (e.g., forested parks make an area more attractive for business development nearby and reduce expenditures on flood damage and flood control). Since the upper Genesee River watershed is a rural area with vast expanses of undeveloped land located at safe distances from the floodplain of the river and its tributaries, zoning and other restrictions on new development in the floodplain would not seriously infringe on business, industry, and other development.