The Montour Area Recreation Commission (MARC) is pleased to announce the release of a new map and web page dedicated to the Chillisquaque Creek Watershed, available on MARC’s website (also embedded at the end of this article).
Blessed with abundant natural resources and more than 300 years of recorded settlement history, the Chillisquaque Creek Watershed is rich in history and resources alike. Encompassing an area of approximately 112 square miles in Montour, Northumberland, Columbia, and Lycoming Counties, the watershed includes more than 200 miles of waterways, including approximately 17.5 miles of the Chillisquaque Creek, from Washingtonville Borough to the creek’s confluence with the West Branch Susquehanna River, navigable by small watercraft during much of the year.
Numerous organizations – including the Montour County Conservation District, Chillisquaque-Limestone Watershed Association, Northcentral Pennsylvania Conservancy, Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Bucknell University, Washingtonville Revitalization Committee, and MARC – have been working to rehabilitate, protect, and promote the Chillisquaque Creek Watershed.
MARC recognizes the tremendous potential of the Chillisquaque Creek and the roadways, landscapes, and rural communities within the watershed and is working to promote the cultural and recreational opportunities available in the area. With funding support by the Community Giving Foundation’s 2021 Danville Youth in Philanthropy program and the Montour County Commissioners’ Tourism Fund, administered by the Columbia-Montour Visitors Bureau, MARC has been working to identify, map, and promote the many resources within the watershed.
MARC is pleased to release the new Chillisquaque Creek Watershed map and web page, intended to familiarize residents and visitors alike with the many natural and cultural points of interest throughout the watershed and to better allow all to understand the interrelatedness of the watershed’s many features. MARC thanks the following contributors for their significant support of this project: Tyler Dombroski – Mayor, Washingtonville Borough; Kit Kelley – Washingtonville Revitalization Committee; and Van Wagner – local environmental educator.
In the coming weeks and months, MARC will be releasing new brochures and mapping of bicycling routes in and around the Chillisquaque Creek watershed and a new paddlers’ map and brochure for the Chillisquaque Creek. In partnership with the Washingtonville Revitalization Committee and other partners, MARC plans to host a stream cleanup event and a paddling event on the Chillisquaque Creek in 2022 and is working to develop new public access locations along the stream.
MARC thanks the many individuals and organizations working toward a bright future for the Chillisquaque Creek Watershed and the Montour County region. The combined efforts make Montour County an increasingly great place to live, work, learn, and play.