SAVE BIG ELK CREEK
providing recreational opportunities while preserving nature
Plans to build campground at Big Elk Creek State Park put on hold after public outcry
KYW NEWSRADIO
By Conner Barkon Jan. 31, 2024
"Residents who are against the project are relieved, but skeptical. Many had petitioned construction on the Landenberg campground, saying the development would ruin natural habitats and turn the area into a tourist attraction."
Pennsylvania park officials drop campground plans for Big Elk Creek State Park
WHYY
By Zoë Read Jan. 30, 2024
"The pushback has prompted the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to pause any camping considerations, said spokesman Wesley Robinson. The agency is also creating a new task force of local public officials and other stakeholders to discuss its future plans for the park, he said."
Opponents of Chester County campground feel confident but cautious after packed meeting
PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
By Jason Nark Jan. 26, 2024
"The applause is muted in the video, but a Chester County commissioner's opening remarks about a controversial plan to build a campground there set the tone for the standing-room-only meeting."
Capacity audience protests DCNR’s plans for Big Elk Creek State Park
CHESTER COUNTY PRESS
By Richard Gaw Jan. 18, 2024
An overflow audience of more than 500 area residents, elected officials and representatives from various area conservation groups filled the Avon Grove Charter School auditorium on Jan. 10 for a nearly three-hour meeting to voice their continuing opposition to a proposed plan by the state’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) to develop significant infrastructure at Big Elk Creek State Park.
Proposal to build campground at Big Elk Creek State Park gets backlash from environmental activists, fearing a threat to wildlife
KWY NEWSRADIO
By John McDevitt Dec. 21, 2023
Big Elk Creek State Park is nearly 1,800 acres and provides refuge for an array of threatened and endangered animal and plant species. Bald eagles can be seen in the park too, though they were taken off the threatened species endangered list in 2007. But Anteia Consorto of Chester County is concerned about them and other animals potentially leaving the area if a campground is established in the park.
Camping is planned for a new Chester County state park. Some locals don’t want it.
PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
By Jason Nark Dec. 18, 2023
"Most assumed things wouldn’t change when George Strawbridge Jr., a Campbell’s Soup scion, historian, and renowned horse breeder sold the vast parcels of hills, farmland, and meadows to the nonprofit Conservation Fund for just under $32 million. The nonprofit then deeded the property to DCNR as a preserve. Strawbridge, who splits his time between Chester County and Florida, told the Inquirer he was equally surprised by the news and urged opponents not to compromise. “It’s outrageous,” he said from Florida.
The Conservation Fund declined to comment. In 2020, when the land transfers were finalized, a DCNR park manager told the Inquirer that as “part of a preserve,” the land “will be more restricted than a typical state park.”
“They’re going back on their word,” Strawbridge said."
Neighbors are fighting a proposed campsite on Landenberg’s Big Elk Creek State Park
WHYY
By Zoë Read Dec. 8, 2023
“We’re happy to have people come and visit,” Consorto said. “We’re just trying to protect the environment and use it in such a way that it’s low impact.”
State park officials plan to meet with resident and township officials in January to answer questions.
From Tranquility to Chaos
CHESTER COUNTY PRESS
Editorial Dec. 6, 2023
"For nearly four decades, the once named Big Elk Creek Preserve – just like the White Clay Creek Preserve just north of it – has been managed by the Friends of the White Clay Creek with the delicacy of a jeweler cutting diamonds, and its trail systems are traversed by residents as if on a pilgrimage of silence and respect for the whispering language of nature. Now, a slice of that silence is on the verge of becoming extinct."
Stakeholders, residents oppose DCNR’s plans for Big Elk Creek State Park
CHESTER COUNTY PRESS
By Richard Gaw Nov. 29, 2023
"There is a generous swath of pristine land in southern Chester County that now sits on the precipice of significant change. Over the past three weeks, legions of those opposed to any new imprint on its definition and disturbance of its largely quiet earth have galvanized in an effort to hold back the big ideas of a big agency."
Rep. Lawrence Urges DCNR to Abandon Major Development Plans for Big Elk Creek State Park
MY CHESCO
By Maryann Pugh Nov. 16, 2023
"The park, located in Elk and Franklin townships, was initially acquired as an addition to the White Clay Creek Preserve. The understanding was that the property would be managed as part of the preserve – a semi-wilderness area with limited, low-impact use. As of November 16, 2023, DCNR’s website still lists the property as part of the preserve."
Pa. budget chips away at $1.4B backlog for parks, forests
SPOTLIGHT PA
By Marley Parish Sep. 29, 2023
“While officials celebrated the infusion as a “tremendous down payment” toward enhancing the experience at Pennsylvania’s 124 state parks and 20 forests, the amount represents a fraction of the estimated $1.4 billion needed to fully address a backlog.”
Conservation Milestone:
978 Acres in Chester County
MT. CUBA CENTER
Press Release Mar. 20, 2020
“As pressure from development, climate change, and other threats pose unprecedented risks for biodiversity, one of the most important things we can do to support flora and fauna is to conserve open space and the habitats it comprises."
Land deal grows Pennsylvania preserve to 3,000 acres
PENNLIVE
By Marcus Schneck Mar. 10, 2020
“The main attraction is the low impact recreational component itself. The quietness that a non-developed park brings has
benefits for those wishing to explore nature without the development typically associated with a day-use or overnight
park.”
Decade-Long Effort to Conserve One of the Largest Blocks of Open Space in Mid-Atlantic Completed
THE CONSERVATION FUND
Press Release Mar. 3, 2020
“Large tracts of open space like this are extremely rare and valuable, especially in such a highly developed and populated area... The result is one of the largest blocks of open space in our region and an opportunity to maintain a bucolic landscape that is quickly vanishing.”
$1.5 million in funding secured for open space preserve in Southern Chester County
THE MERCURY
Dec 5, 2018
"Christmas came early this year for open space in Chester County, as state Senator Andy Dinniman helped secure key state funding for a conservation project that will ultimately lead to the creation of one of the largest contiguous areas of preserved land between Washington, D.C. and New York City."
