RIVER DISCOVERY BOAT TOURS LAUNCH THIS WEEKEND!

When: Saturday, July 13^th & Sunday July 14^th, 10:30am/12:30pm/2:30pm,
and Every Weekend through Summer 2019

Where: Zimmerman Center for Heritage, 1706 Long Level Rd., Wrightsville, PA

On Saturday, July 13^th and Sunday, July 14^th, Susquehanna National Heritage Area will launch our pilot season of River Discovery Boat Tours on the Susquehanna River. Three FREE pontoon boat tours will be offered every Saturday and Sunday through the summer from our Zimmerman Center for Heritage dock, on the river south of Wrightsville, PA. Tour times for the initial pilot season are 10:30am, 12:30pm, and 2:30pm.

Tour participants will cruise the Susquehanna in a comfortable 10-passenger pontoon boat owned and operated by locally-based Long Level Marina. Susquehanna National Heritage Area’s on-board guides will lead participants on a 1 hour 15 minute tour of the Lake Clarke portion of the river while sharing the Susquehanna’s rich natural and cultural history. Tour participants will enjoy being on the water, hearing stories of the river, and viewing beautiful scenery and wildlife.

The River Discovery Tours are the first new initiative of Susquehanna National Heritage Area since Congressional designation of Lancaster and York Counties as America’s 55th National Heritage Area in March 2019. The 2019 pilot season of tours are offered free of charge for all participants thanks to grants from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources/Heritage Areas Program and the National Park Service/Chesapeake Bay Gateways Program.

The River Discovery Tours were developed as part of the Zimmerman Center’s official role as a National Park Service Visitor Contact & Passport Station for the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail, America’s first water-based National Historic Trail. Special themed tours and round-trip cruises between the Zimmerman Center and the Columbia Crossing River Trails Center we manage on the Columbia riverfront will be offered later in the summer. If popular with the public in this pilot season, an expanded schedule of tours will be developed for 2020 and beyond.

Each tour has a limited number of seats and online reservations are recommended. Reservations are limited to 4 persons maximum per tour and one reservation per tour day. Unreserved seats may be available on the first-come, first-served basis. Tours leave from the Zimmerman Center dock, 1706 Long Level Rd., four miles south of Wrightsville.

More information about River Discovery Boat Tours and making reservations can be found here.

On Friday, June 7, 2019, Susquehanna National Heritage Area (SNHA) will celebrate the recent designation by Congress of Lancaster and York Counties as America’s 55^th National Heritage Area. National, state, and local elected officials, agencies, and business leaders will come together on the riverfront in Columbia to honor our area’s significant role in shaping American history and recognize those partners who helped bring this important national designation to our communities.

Featured speakers for the celebration are U.S. Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and Congressman Lloyd Smucker (PA-11), who both championed National Heritage Area designation for our region in Congress.

Remarks will also be offered by Kate MacGregor, Deputy Chief of Staff exercising the authority of the Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of the Interior; Cindy Dunn, Secretary, Pennsylvania Department of Conservation & Natural Resources; Josh Parsons, Chair, Lancaster County Board of Commissioners; Susan Byrnes, President, York County Board of Commissioners; Columbia Mayor Leo Lutz; Lancaster Chamber President Tom Baldrige; and Kevin Schreiber, President & CEO of the York County Economic Alliance. Representatives of the National Park Service will also be in attendance.

Weather and water permitting, a small group of invited participants will arrive for the celebration in Columbia by boat after a cruise from SNHA’s Zimmerman Center for Heritage at Long Level, York County. In 2016, the National Park Service designated the Zimmerman Center as Pennsylvania’s official Visitor Contact & Passport Station for the Captain John Smith Chesapeake Trail—America’s first water-based National Historic Trail. National Heritage Area designation builds on this existing trail partnership with the National Park Service by expanding collaboration to the regional level.

Designation of York and Lancaster Counties as the Susquehanna National Heritage Area caps an eleven-year community campaign to achieve this national recognition for our region. After completion of a Feasibility Study Report in 2008, the National Park Service found our region meets the National Heritage Area Feasibility Study Guidelines for Congressional designation. With this determination, Senator Casey sponsored legislation to designate the Susquehanna National Heritage Area in every session of Congress since 2008 and Congressman Lloyd Smucker (PA-11) joined the effort in 2017. In early 2019, the Susquehanna National Heritage Area was included in S.47, the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act, which was approved by Congress in February 2019 and signed by President Trump in March 2019. The Act named Susquehanna Heritage Corporation as the Local Coordinating Entity for the new National Heritage Area and authorized fifteen years of federal funding to carry out heritage and conservation activities. Next steps will include development of a Cooperative Agreement with the National Park Service and a Management Plan to chart the future course of the National Heritage Area’s programs and projects.

Learn more about the new Susquehanna National Heritage Area here: https://susqnha.org/about-us/our-work/national-heritage-area-designation/

National Heritage Area Update

In June 2017, U.S. Representative Lloyd Smucker, with U.S. Representative Scott Perry and U.S. Representative Pat Meehan introduced H.R. 2991 in the U.S. House of Representatives to establish the Susquehanna National Heritage Area. On June 5th, 2018 the U.S. House of Representatives approved Congressman Lloyd Smucker’s bill to designate Lancaster and York Counties as the Susquehanna National Heritage Area. You can read about it and watch video of House proceedings on the bill here. This is a key milestone on the way to bringing this national honor to our region. Thank you Congressman Smucker and the U.S. House of Representatives for recognizing the national significance of our area and passing this legislation.

Help support our efforts to become a National Heritage Area by expressing your support and asking U.S. Senator Bob Casey & U.S. Senator Pat Toomey to support congressional designation of the Susquehanna National Heritage Area!

Contact U.S. Senator Bob Casey

Contact U.S. Senator Pat Toomey

Learn more here about our National Heritage Area Initiative.

National Heritage Area Bill Advances

On April 11th, 2018 Susquehanna Heritage President Mark Platts joined Congressman Lloyd Smucker and Columbia Mayor Leo Lutz at the U.S. House Federal Lands Subcommittee hearing on H.R. 2991, the Susquehanna National Heritage Act. This bill sponsored by Rep. Smucker will designate all of Lancaster and York Counties as America’s 50th National Heritage Area with Susquehanna Heritage as the Local Coordinating Entity. Congressman Smucker and Mayor Lutz testified in support of the bill. Read the Mayor’s testimony here and watch the hearing here (H.R. 2991 runs from 1:01:03 to 1:21:28.)   We very much appreciate Congressman Smucker’s leadership with this effort, along with the great support we’ve received from so many community groups and elected officials like Mayor Lutz. HR 2991 was recently marked up and reported out of the House Natural Resources Committee and now awaits a vote by the full U.S. House of Representatives. Learn more about our National Heritage Area initiative here.

Community Yoga Every Sunday in April

Stars Over The Susquehanna

April 20, 2018

 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM

Celebrating 125 years of Doc Hinkle’s Egg Dye

Rain Garden Clean-up & Planting

Spring is a time for dusting off and cleaning up. Well, our riverfront rain garden could certainly use some TLC after the long winter. Drop by the Zimmerman Center for Heritage on Sunday, March 25th, enjoy the spring air and exercise your green thumb at our rain garden clean-up and planting. Grab a hot dog from the grill and burn off the calories while getting to know native rain garden plants first-hand. Then return this Summer to enjoy the results of your efforts! Bring your boots, gloves, and clippers; extra gloves and clippers will be available. All ages are welcome from 12 PM to 3 PM.

Donor Spotlight – Ann B. Barshinger

 
Ann B. Barshinger, a generous philanthropist in both Lancaster and York Counties, has shared her love for the river. Her recent donation to Susquehanna Heritage will support river history, art, and nature programs for youth and families at the Zimmerman Center for Heritage, Columbia Crossing, and associated heritage and outdoor sites. These programs include our annual Every Kid in a Park and Canoemobile field trips for local school groups. 

We thank you, Ann!

Land & Water Shuttle Study Request For Proposal

Susquehanna Heritage seeks a consultant team to conduct a feasibility study for land and water shuttle services in the River Towns and Lake Clarke areas of the Susquehanna River corridor through Lancaster and York Counties in Pennsylvania. The primary purpose of the study is to assess the financial and operational feasibility of transporting visitors between the Zimmerman Center and Columbia Crossing through a seasonal land and water shuttle service with on-board interpretive programs. This new service is intended to improve visitor readiness, expand visitor programs, and build visitation from outside the region.

The Land & Water Shuttle Study will complement an Interpretive Master Plan for the Zimmerman Center, Columbia Crossing, and Native Lands County Park, which is currently underway. The consultant team selected for the Land and Water Shuttle Study is expected to coordinate with the Interpretive Master Plan consultant to ensure that proposed interpretive programs are compatible with and can be offered aboard the proposed shuttle services.

Land & Water Shuttle Study RFP

CAJO Land-Water Shuttle Study RFP – Rev. 1-18

Susquehanna Heritage takes part in Chesapeake Bay Commission flyover of the Lower Susquehanna River

Susquehanna Heritage President Mark Platts joined leaders of the Chesapeake Bay Commission yesterday as the guide for a flyover of the Susquehanna River from Harrisburg to the Chesapeake Bay and back. Commission members were particularly interested in the numerous power generation facilities in this 60 mile stretch of the river, the many parks and preserves that help protect the Susquehanna watershed, and the evolving network of river heritage and recreation attractions we’ve helped develop with local, state, and national partners.

The Chesapeake Bay Commission sponsored the trip as part of its quarterly meeting in Harrisburg. Participants taking part in the flyover included: Ann Swanson, Executive Director of the Chesapeake Bay Commission; PA Representative Garth Everett, Chair of the Commission; MD Delegate Tawanna Gaines, Commission Member; MD Delegate Barbara Frush, Commission Member; and Shannon Lyons, SouthWings Chesapeake Program Director.

SouthWings coordinated this trip with volunteer pilots and plane.

Aerial view south from Conowingo Dam to the mouth of the Susquehanna River at the Chesapeake Bay.

Aerial view south from Holtwood over Conowingo Pond.

Participants prepare to board with the Southwings volunteer flight team at Harrisburg International Airport (MDT).

Participants taking part in the flyover included (left to right): PA Representative Garth Everett, Chair of the Commission; MD Delegate Barbara Frush, Commission Member; Shannon Lyons, SouthWings Chesapeake Program Director; Ann Swanson, Executive Director of the Chesapeake Bay Commission; and MD Delegate Tawanna Gaines, Commission Member.