Oct.16, 2014
Contact:
Katy Dunlap, Trout Unlimited Eastern Water Project Director, 607-742-3331
Mark Taylor, Trout Unlimited Eastern Communications Director, 540-353-3556
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Pine-Genesee-Allegheny headwaters one of 10 special places
The unique region offers an abundance of fishing and hunting opportunities
WASHINGTON, D.C.Trout Unlimited is featuring the Pine-Genesee-Allegheny headwaters area of northcentral Pennsylvania in a new report highlighting outstanding public fishing and hunting areas in the Central Appalachian region that are at risk from shale gas drilling and hydrofracking.
The organizations 10 Special Places report focuses on areas that are rich in fish, game and natural beauty, and that have for generations provided abundant opportunities for hunters and anglers. It covers threats to the specific regions and offers recommendations for the best approaches sportsmen and women can use to protect these areas from potential risks.
The Pine-Genesee-Allegheny headwaters region is the third of the 10 Special Places to be announced. Trout Unlimited will announce a new place weekly this fall, releasing the full report in December.
Potter County is known as Gods Country, and the reason its called Gods Country is its a place only God could have made, said Dr. Pete Ryan, president of the Gods Country chapter of Trout Unlimited since 1978. The reason I live in Potter County is I really, really enjoy fly fishing.
It brings me the most pleasure of anything I do in my life. My passion developed into wanting to take care of what I really love.
The headwaters of three famed tributaries Pine Creek and the Genesee and Allegheny rivers begin their descent from the same mountaintop, each flowing downstream through unspoiled wilderness in northcentral Pennsylvania. The heart of Gods Country, just downstream of where the three headwaters originate, is comprised of state forest and game lands and eight state parks, providing sportsmen and women with an abundance of hunting, angling and trapping opportunities.
The headwaters and tributaries of Pine Creek, and the Genesee and Allegheny rivers boast some of Pennsylvanias best wild and native trout streams and remote country, attracting anglers and hunters from across the state as well as the east coast, said Katy Dunlap, Eastern Water Project Director for Trout Unlimited. Small businesses, restaurants and lodges all rely on the revenue generated by sportsmen and women who come to the region to hunt and fish.
Trout Unlimited promotes responsible energy development and, in collaboration with others, seeks to ensure that all reasonable efforts are made to avoid or mitigate the impacts such development may have on important coldwater resources, such as the Pine-Genesee-Allegheny headwaters area.
To protect the world-class hunting and angling opportunities available in the Pine-Genesee-Allegheny headwaters area, sportsmen and women are working with state and local agencies to implement a variety of actions, such as making sure strict erosion and sediment control measures are in place and properly functioning before construction of well pads, pipelines and roads begin, to ensure that energy development will not adversely impact this special region.
The report and related content are available online at tu.org/special-places.
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Trout Unlimited is the nations largest coldwater conservation organization, with 155,000 members dedicated to conserving, protecting, and restoring North Americas trout and salmon fisheries and their watersheds. Follow TU on Facebook and Twitter, and visit us online at tu.org.