MARIENVILLE — The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service is accepting public review and comment on the Beaver Meadows Campground Decommissioning Project, on Allegheny National Forest. Beaver Meadows Campground is located north of Marienville in Forest County, Pennsylvania. The campground has been closed since 2010.

The proposed action includes fully decommissioning the Beaver Meadows Campground. The proposal does not include the Beaver Meadows Day Use Area or hiking trails. To review the project documents, please visit the Allegheny National Forest website at https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=57181.

This proposed action accounts for public input during the scoping period in 2019. We gave the input careful consideration with the added context of monitoring how the renewed interest in public lands and increase in outdoor recreation this past season impacted use on the Allegheny National Forest. We also accounted for the new emphasis on addressing deferred maintenance on forests through funding in the Great American Outdoors Act, as well as, the continued development of the Knox-to-Kane Rail Trail. Despite all this new information, it is still unlikely that the Allegheny National Forest would invest in restoring the campground at Beaver Meadows.

“There is more than sufficient capacity for any increase in developed camping within a 10-30-mile radius of Beaver Meadows. There is a pressing need for investment in developed recreation in other locations on the Allegheny National Forest that the public uses and values more than Beaver Meadows,” said Marienville District Ranger Robert Fallon.

There are no utilities at Beaver Meadows. The few buildings have deteriorated since the site was closed in 2010. The proposed action to fully decommission the site would restore it to forest production. This does not preclude any future actions at this location.

Comments received, including names and addresses of those who comment, will be available for public inspection as part of the project record.