The McIntyre Wild Area, the historic site of a mining operation and community a century ago, is now trash-free. This is thanks to the efforts of Jake Jacobs and Bob Lyons, who have been picking up trash there for over two years, and contracted labor provided by the PA Forest Lands Beautification Program.
In the picture above, Assistant District Forester Charlie Swartz is flanked by Jake Jacobs and State Forest Maintenance Foreman Jeff Raisch at the scenic Bandstand Rock vista.
Jake and Bob have been picking up trash from the Wild Area, one of their favorite spots in Tiadaghton State Forest, for several years, but the appliances and other heavy trash "over the hill" were more than they could remove without help.
Large items and trash on other very steep slopes were removed by Darren Smith of Smith Excavating, Inc. in late May 2000. A truckload of trash, scrap metal, and numerous tires, were removed from the area. Another area was covered with dirt and seeded. Windows and other trash were removed from below Bandstand Rock, a scenic vista and local landmark located at the end of McIntyre Road.
Now visitors to Bandstand Rock can imagine hearing a brass band entertaining a summer holiday crowd years ago, while discovering some of the anchors for the bandstand in the rock. And, they can look out over an outstanding vista, with a view of an old iron furnace on the creek below, without having that view tarnished by trash. They can investigate the remnants of what was once the world's largest inclined plane mining operation and marvel at the removal of the coal from the valley below.
This site is one of ten pilot sites cleaned during 2000, the first year of the Pennsylvania Forest Lands Beautification Program. The McIntyre Wild Area is located in McIntyre Township, Lycoming County.
Tiadaghton State Forest is located in Northcentral Pennsylvania.
Learn about other illegal dump sites in state forests and parks.
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