Municipal officials recently learned more about an effort to improve the Allegheny Reservoir area, a move which organizers hope will increase tourism.
Pennsylvania Kinzua Pathways team member Coralee Wenzel told attendees at the Warren County Intergovernmental Cooperative meeting Wednesday evening about the group's work. She described it as a historic awareness project.
PKP has its origins in Leadership Warren County, Wenzel said, where some members of the 2009 class began the effort as a class project. Participants believe the idea is valid and real enough to see the project through to its completion.
The movement's leaders made contacts with government officials as well as the public, Wenzel said, and began work with the Allegheny National Forest at the beginning. Reports highlighting the active parts of the project are available at Warren Public Library.
The trail from Kinzua Beach to Rimrock Overlook should be open close to Memorial Day, Wenzel said, and visitors will get the sense the facilities are connected. Designs have also been submitted to the ANF for replacement of an information center.
True to the historic awareness goals of the project, Wenzel said leaders have been in contact with the Seneca Nation of Indians whose members were relocated during the construction of Kinzua Dam. and creation of the Allegheny Reservoir.
Team Member Joe Colosimo is fond of saying the project is not a silver bullet, Wenzel said, but anything that brings people into the area will be beneficial.
Glade Township Supervisor Joe Scully asked when the project would be done.
It could take 10 to 20 years, Wenzel said, as it only began little more than a year ago. Many of the things organizers thought would be part of the project at the time have since changed and three or four ideas should go into motion within the next four or five years.
ANF Bradford District Ranger Tony Scardina said organizers have focused on understanding management principles. They should be proud of their work as it moves forward piece by piece, he added, and it has been great for citizens to see.