The Pennsylvania Game Commission board approved its largest land acquisition in Luzerne County in 50 years on Monday by acquiring more than 3,600 acres in Bear Creek and Buck townships.
The property includes three tracts totaling 3,684 acres. Two tracts in the rural townships off Route 115 connect to existing state game lands, and all of the acreage will be included in State Game Lands 91.
The bulk of the acreage was acquired from PPL Electric Utilities Corp., which had purchased the property from Blue Ridge Real Estate. PPL will convey 3,393 acres of property to the commission in exchange for easements for a power-line expansion project will will traverse five game lands in the area.
The remaining acres will be purchased by the Game Commission with funds derived from Marcellus Shale leases at a cost not to exceed $750,000.
“The property was timbered by Blue Ridge Real Estate, so there is regeneration there. There are also places where we can do prescribed burns to create additional habitat,” Beahm said. “There is also a large rattlesnake den on one of the parcels.”
Now that the acquisition has been approved, Beahm said commission crews will work on improving an access road into the parcels that will be opened seasonally for hunters.
Delaney said the funding derived from Marcellus Shale leases has allowed the commission to purchase land at a higher rate in recent years, and much of the property contains extremely valuable wildlife habitat.
“This newest land purchase isn’t mine-scarred land. It’s all forest,” Delaney said. “PPL came to us because they needed right-of-ways across our game lands, and our land management staff did an exceptional job to make this happen.”
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