Wyoming County welcomes first state park at Vosburg Neck

WASHINGTON TWP. — The briefest address about Wyoming County’s first state park came from its namesake.

For a few seconds Thursday the crowd of approximately 100 people gathered under the canopy of a towering oak tree along the Susquehanna River in the new Vosburg Neck State Park was still.

Ellen Ferretti, executive director of the North Branch Land Trust that’s helping the state acquire 669 acres of the Howland Preserve for the park, marveled at the beauty of the surroundings when it was her time to speak.

“Let’s just take a moment. Quiet, seriously,” Ferretti deferred to the wind rustling the still green leaves under an overcast early Fall sky.

“This is remarkable,” Ferretti resumed.

The Land Trust, following the will of Ernie Howland, will serve as the conservator in perpetuity to ensure the needs of the citizens and visitors to the park, said Ferretti, a Dallas native and former secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

Vosburg Neck was one of three new parks announced this week by Gov. Tom Wolf, bringing the total additions statewide to four during his eight years in office. But the efforts to create one in Wyoming County dated much further back.

Cindy Adams Dunn, secretary of the DCNR, provided some background on how it came about and credited state Sen. Lisa Baker, whose district includes the park’s site, with seeing it through.

Dunn recalled Baker, R-Lehman Township, contacted her in 2016 and 2017 about conducting a feasibility study for the Vosburg Neck. The study was done, but there was no money to make the park a reality.

When the DCNR was closing out its 2021 budget year it determined it had $56 million left from oil and gas leases due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Dunn said. She notified Baker and state Reps. Karen Boback and Tina Pickett, that the legislature needed to get on board. The funding was included in the current fiscal year budget.

This was not Dunn’s first visit to the would-be park, having paddled the river many times starting in 1990 on a Susquehanna Sojourn in 1990.

“I first experienced Wyoming County on the river. It’s an incredible, beautiful asset. Coming into the Vosburg Neck from Mehoopany is a spiritual experience,” Dunn said.

Others pitched the site as a park over the years. “The land and the water have been screaming state park for some time. And I think all we had to do was hear it,” Dunn said.

Baker traced her efforts back nine years when it was brought up to her. The money wasn’t available then and when the feasibility study was completed the cost was eye opening.

“It was daunting to get a report back that said we needed somewhere between $12 and $13 million to make it happen,” Baker said.

That didn’t stop Baker from advocating and gathering support for the park. The alignment of the budgetary stars finally provided the funding.

“So I just say that this is a stellar addition to all the natural attractions that Wyoming County has to offer, joining the state park realm of natural jewels, as we all know, raises recognition and reputation for our community,” Baker said.

Dunn estimated the park could open in 2026 and added another numeric note that the park is located at mile 222 of the 444 mile-long river.