From The Morning Call
March 6, 2007
Officials aim to keep Lehigh Mountain green
A consultant will be hired to find 'best use' for county recreation.
By Romy Varghese Of The Morning Call
With its century-old hardwood forest and wildlife, Lehigh Mountain provides a swath of natural beauty surrounded by development.
But no one has looked at it in its entirety, said Lehigh County General Services Director Jan Creedon.
That will change when the county hires a consultant to develop a master site plan for the mountain — ''to really look at it as one big, green space,'' Creedon said.
The consultant will examine the mountain's ecology and other characteristics and develop recommendations on how to best open it up for residents to enjoy, such as with hiking and biking trails.
A contract is expected in the next couple of weeks.
Lehigh County, Salisbury Township and Allentown all own parcels, totaling around 600 acres, on Lehigh Mountain, Creedon said. The mountain is on the south side of the Lehigh River between Allentown and Bethlehem.
''It's a huge chunk of land we want to use for its maximum best use for the residents,'' she said .
Drawing more people to Lehigh Mountain for recreation would discourage activities such as illegal dumping, Creedon said.
That is an issue faced by Salisbury Township with its 157-acre Walking Purchase Park on the mountain.
Its rugged terrain makes it popular for mountain bikers, but it's also seen vandalism and trespassing by all-terrain vehicles. In an effort to combat these problems, Salisbury approved an agreement in November 2006 that allows state Game Commission officers to join township police in enforcing laws in the park.
Preserving the mountain for open space and recreation staves off possible development. Before it sold 124 acres on the mountain to the county last year, the Bethlehem Authority had received letters from several developers interested in buying the land.
The Lehigh Mountain initiative is similar to the county's work on the Trexler Nature Preserve. Formerly called the Trexler-Lehigh County Game Preserve, the 1,100-acre area will see the development of a trail system as a way to be more accessible to the public.
A state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources grant will fund half of the consultant's fees. The other half would be split by the county and Salisbury, Creedon said.
Eight consulting firms have bid on the proposal, with fees that range from $49,932 to $127,000.
Lehigh Mountain, along with South Mountain, is part of the Highlands Region, a major greenway in the Appalachians
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