Blue Marsh National Recreation Area

Blue Marsh National Recreation Area
Protected area
A view on the hill above the State Hill boat ramp
Country	United States
State	Pennsylvania
Municipality	Bern, Lower Heidelberg

Location	Berks County, Pennsylvania
- coordinates	40°22′48″N 76°01′53″W / 40.38000°N 76.03139°W / 40.38000; -76.03139Coordinates: 40°22′48″N 76°01′53″W / 40.38000°N 76.03139°W / 40.38000; -76.03139

Founded	Built
Date	1979
Management	U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Philadelphia District

IUCN category	III^[1]

Blue Marsh National Recreation Area is an artificial lake located northwest of the city of Reading, Pennsylvania, USA and managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Philadelphia District. It is in western Berks County, fed into by the Tulpehocken Creek. The main span of the lake is along the border between Bern and Lower Heidelberg Townships. However, the northwesternmost portions lie in the more sparsely populated North Heidelberg and Penn Townships. In the middle of the lake is a large, uninhabited island (claimed by Bern Township). The lake is a popular recreation area in the summer, where people can fish, swim, and boat.

History

Blue Marsh was the name of the village that was located where the lake now is. It was the first settlement in Lower Heidelberg Township. The land was very fertile. It was also a heavily forested area with abundance of wildlife. There were many Farms, and 18th and 19th century homes. The village also had a church, schoolhouse, post office, and Pyles General Store. Some buildings were spared, such as Gruber Wagon Works, which was originally in Blue Marsh but was moved a safe distance away before the dam was created. Others include Old Dry Rd. Farm, which most of its buildings were relocated out of the village. Residents were put under eminent domain and had no choice but to move out. Initial authorization for the reservoir was granted by the Flood Control Act of 1962 that started eight projects on the Delaware River basin.^[2] The Pennsylvania Project 70 Land Acquisition and Borrowing Act provided funding and permitted the eminent domain acquisition of the land that would later become the lake with the governor's permission in 1969. The United States Army Corps of Engineers began constructing the lake in March 1974 with the impoundment of the Tulpehocken Creek and was completed in September 1979.^[3]^[4]^[5]

References

↑ "Blue Marsh National Recreation Area". Protected Planet. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
↑ George M. Meiser IX (1971). "Historical Survey of Blue Marsh Project Area". The Historical Review of Berks County. The Historical Society of Berks County.
↑ "Blue Marsh Lake". U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. August 2, 2010. Retrieved October 23, 2010.
↑ "Water Quality Standards Review: Blue Marsh Lake". Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. January 2005. Retrieved October 23, 2010.
↑ "History of Penn Township". Township of Penn. Retrieved October 23, 2010.

Protected areas of Pennsylvania

Federal

NPS National Historical Parks & National Historic Sites	Allegheny Portage Railroad NHS Edgar Allan Poe NHS Eisenhower NHS Friendship Hill NHS Gloria Dei (Old Swedes') Church NHS Hopewell Furnace NHS Independence NHP Steamtown NHS Valley Forge NHP

National Memorials	Benjamin Franklin Flight 93 Johnstown Flood Thaddeus Kosciuszko

National Battlefields and National Military Parks	Fort Necessity NB Gettysburg NMP

National Trails	Appalachian Trail

Other protected areas	Allegheny National Recreation Area Blue Marsh National Recreation Area Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area Lackawanna Heritage Valley National and State Heritage Area Middle Delaware National Scenic River Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River

National Forests	Allegheny

USFS National Historic Sites	Grey Towers

National Wildlife Refuges	Cherry Valley Erie John Heinz Ohio River Islands

State

State Parks	Allegheny Islands Archbald Pothole Bald Eagle Beltzville Bendigo Benjamin Rush Big Pocono Big Spring Black Moshannon Blue Knob Boyd Big Tree Buchanan's Birthplace Bucktail Caledonia Canoe Creek Chapman Cherry Springs Clear Creek Codorus Colonel Denning Colton Point Cook Forest Cowans Gap Delaware Canal Denton Hill Elk Erie Bluffs Evansburg Fort Washington Fowlers Hollow Frances Slocum French Creek Gifford Pinchot Gouldsboro Greenwood Furnace Hickory Run Hillman Hills Creek Hyner Run Hyner View Jacobsburg Jennings Joseph E. Ibberson Kettle Creek Keystone Kings Gap Kinzua Bridge Kooser Lackawanna Laurel Hill Laurel Mountain Laurel Ridge Laurel Summit Lehigh Gorge Leonard Harrison Linn Run Little Buffalo Little Pine Locust Lake Lyman Run Marsh Creek Maurice K. Goddard McCalls Dam McConnells Mill Memorial Lake Milton Mont Alto Moraine Mt. Pisgah Nescopeck Neshaminy Nockamixon Nolde Forest Norristown Farm Ohiopyle Oil Creek Ole Bull Parker Dam Patterson Penn-Roosevelt Pine Grove Furnace Poe Paddy Poe Valley Point Presque Isle Prince Gallitzin Promised Land Prompton Prouty Place Pymatuning R. B. Winter Raccoon Creek Ralph Stover Ravensburg Reeds Gap Ricketts Glen Ridley Creek Ryerson Station S. B. Elliott Salt Springs Samuel S. Lewis Sand Bridge Shawnee Shikellamy Sinnemahoning Sizerville Susquehanna Susquehannock Swatara Tobyhanna Trough Creek Tuscarora Tyler Upper Pine Bottom Varden Warriors Path Washington Crossing Whipple Dam White Clay Creek Worlds End Yellow Creek

State Forests	Bald Eagle Buchanan Clear Creek Cornplanter Delaware Elk Forbes Gallitzin Loyalsock Michaux Moshannon Pinchot Rothrock Sproul Susquehannock Tiadaghton Tioga Tuscarora Weiser William Penn (Wild areas)

Scenic Rivers	Bear Run French Creek Lehigh River LeTort Spring Run Lick Run Lower Brandywine Octoraro Creek Pine Creek Schuylkill River Stony Creek Tucquan Creek Tulpehocken Creek Yellow Breeches Creek

Other

Other	Anders Run Natural Area Forrest H. Duttlinger Natural Area Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Hoverter and Sholl Box Huckleberry Natural Area Johnson Run Natural Area Stone Valley Recreation Area Trexler Nature Preserve Wykoff Run Natural Area

Hiking trails	Appalachian Baker Black Forest Central Mountains Shared Use Darlington Eastern Continental Five Star Glacier Ridge Great Eastern Greene River Horse-Shoe Indian Creek Valley Loyalsock Mid State Standing Stone Mason-Dixon North Country Ohio River Old Loggers Path Pinchot Potomac Heritage Quehanna Rachel Carson Sheepskin Susquehannock Thunder Swamp Tuscarora Valley Forge Historical West Rim Wissahickon Youghiogheny River

Rail trails	Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike Beaver River East Coast Greenway Five Star Ghost Town Great Allegheny Passage Great Shamokin Path Greene River Indian Creek Valley Lebanon Valley Lehigh Gorge Liberty Bell Lower Montour Ohio River Palmer Bikeway Panhandle Perkiomen Pine Creek Plainfield Township Schuylkill River Sheepskin Struble Susquehanna Warrior Switchback Three Rivers Heritage York Country Heritage Youghiogheny River

Nature centers	List of nature centers in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources

External links

, official website from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

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