
“In 2016 I brought my camera along on a family trip to capture some images of the Clarion for use in highlighting the 50th anniversary of President Johnson signing the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, and we have been working together for several years on commemorative events to call attention to this visionary law that conserves these national treasures,” explained Bob. postage stamp.īob said the Postal Service’s selection of his Clarion photo came as a surprise. The oaks and maples in particular have a red color.” This Clarion River photo by Bob Wick will be used for the 2019 U.S. However, it was taken just as the spring buds were beginning to break. “Many people mistake the picture for a fall shot with all of the red tones. “That photo of the Clarion was taken upstream from Clarington and is looking toward Clear Creek State Park on the right and the Allegheny National Forest on the left,” said Bob. This map of Pennsylvania outlines the four rivers contending for 2019 River of the Year. The public was invited to vote online for River of the Year through Friday, January 4, choosing one from among four waterways: the Clarion, Conodoguinet Creek, Delaware River and Lackawanna River. The Pennsylvania Organization for Watersheds and Rivers (POWR), an affiliate of the Pennsylvania Environmental Council, administers the River of the Year program with funding from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR). It is one of only two National Wild and Scenic Rivers in the Pennsylvania Wilds (with the other being the Allegheny).īeginning in the Pennsylvania Wilds Elk Country and meandering southwest through the Cook Forest & the Ancients landscape, the Clarion’s 110-mile-long recovery efforts continue today thanks to the conservation efforts of several agencies and organizations along its corridor, namely the Elk County Conservation District (ECCD), The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy and the Allegheny Watershed Improvement Needs Coalition (WINS). These restoration efforts were so successful that in 1996 the Clarion River was designated a National Wild and Scenic River by the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, a federal organization which aims to protect and enhance river conditions to ensure recreational and scenic value. Run-off from riverside tanneries and especially acid mine drainage more than a century ago contributed to devastating pollution, but in the 1980s, restoration efforts took hold, and nearly 40 years later the Clarion is home to clear water and a robust fishery. It was once regarded as Pennsylvania’s most polluted waterway. Some of us recall a time when things weren’t always so rosy for the Clarion River. 16, 2019 update: Clarion River has been named 2019 Pennsylvania River Of The Year after garnering 5,850 of the 14,790 cast in this year’s contest. Wild and Scenic Rivers to be featured on a postage stamp issued by the United States Postal Service in the new year.


In late November, the Clarion was named one of four rivers nominated for “Pennsylvania River of the Year, 2019,” and this Pennsylvania Wilds river is also among 12 U.S. The year 2018 was a huge year for the Clarion River, and 2019 stands to be even bigger.
