Musser Gap Greenway connects people to nature while protecting water quality and habitat

Verdant mountainsides, open farmland and sprawling suburban communities – these and other diverse landscapes offer a mosaic of habitats along Route 45 in Pennsylvania’s Centre County.

Throughout each meanders a small stream – Slab Cabin Run – and the Musser Gap Greenway.

​This new trail is a part of Penn State’s land conservation project that aims to connect the residents of State College with the Rothrock State Forest while protecting the natural resources, especially the groundwater resources beneath the surface.  

A new project begins
A boon to outdoor recreationists and nature lovers, the Musser Gap Greenway is a 355-acre property that is a collaboration between Penn State University and Clearwater Conservancy, a local environmental non-profit. It all began in the early 90s when Penn State acquired farmland from the Mellon Family Trust and the Richard Mellon Foundation.

Then, in 2006, Clearwater Conservancy purchased additional acreage from a developer intent on building housing that would have negatively impacted groundwater recharge in the region.

​Today, the property features about 100 acres that is tucked away into the Rothrock State Forest on the south side of Tussey Mountain while the remaining 250 acres is currently under cultivation for agriculture.

Listen to the full interview with Musser Gap Conservation Director Mike Toolan in the most recent episode of the Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper Podcast here:

Leading the project and its initiatives is Musser Gap Conservation Director Mike Toolan. 

After graduating from Kutztown University in 2018 with a degree in Environmental Science, Toolan worked at the Penn State Arboretum managing natural areas and other projects before getting hired as the Musser Gap Conservation Director in early 2023.

To determine the goals of this project, a Steering Committee was formed.

“Based on all this research and expert input, they settled on a few specific goals, primarily to steward the site’s natural resources, but also to educate, make sure it’s an educational space related to ecology and hydrology,” said Toolan, adding that the project aims to preserve the habitats that make the region special. “We also want to showcase this really beautiful natural aesthetic, even pastoral aesthetic that people really value in this area.”

Above all else, Toolan wants to make sure that the trails are safe and accessible so everyone can enjoy the natural resources offered by the greenway.

Protecting habitat and water quality
In addition to protecting land for outdoor enthusiasts, Toolan said the protection of forest and grassland habitats is important for groundwater recharge in the Spring Creek watershed.

“This site is a really important spot for ground water collection and infiltration,” he said. "One of the biggest priorities for this site is managing water quality for people."

The water from Musser Gapp makes its way through a system of underground caverns as well as Slab Cabin Run to well fields downstream where the town of State College and Penn State University receive their drinking water. This reflects the region’s Karst landscape, a geological feature that is abundant in subsurface limestone that forms large openings such as caves and sinkholes.

This also means that groundwater recharge is vitally important for the region. Since the town of State College is not downstream of any major river, it must draw nearly all of its drinking water from these underground resources.

Toolan also emphasized that the site has several habitat restoration projects underway including a riparian buffer that is officially managed by Clearwater Conservancy, a local environmental nonprofit.

According to Clearwater’s Streamside Projects Coordinator Jill Barskey, riparian buffers are important to protecting water quality because buffers “minimize impacts from stormwater runoff, shade streams and keep water cool, and stabilize the streambanks and prevent soil erosion.”

Barskey has been working with Toolan since 2022 to revegetate the streamside of Slab Cabin Run. As of right now, many of these newly planted trees are still protected by tree tubes and require volunteer support and care, but Barskey hopes the future of the streamside buffer will be less intensive management.

“I would like to see the trees grow up and turn into the forest they should be," she said.

Toolan is also working to protect the region’s pastoral landscape.

"We’re looking to restore some older less fertile agricultural land into grassland habitat," said Toolan. "Additionally, we’re also thinking of ways that we can convert some of the traditional agriculture to more regenerative agriculture so that we can reduce some of the ecological impacts of those activities on the site."

These regenerative farming techniques and grassland habitats are important for slowing stormwater runoff during heavy rain and flood events. Fortunately, they serve a dual purpose and also preserve the pastural aesthetic that Toolan said is so important to the community.

Fostering relationships 
Musser Gap’s multi-faceted approach to land management has fostered valuable relationships between multiple stakeholders.

“The relationship part of the project is honestly something that I didn’t really think all that much about before I came on, but it turns out to maybe be the biggest aspect of the project," said Toolan. “It almost seems like some of these relationships spring up almost spontaneously just because of the sheer number of stakeholders involved."

One of their primary stakeholders, the Wassons, lease greenway land from Penn State to operate their farm. Through this relationship, the Wassons are able protect their livelihood while their land is professionally managed.

The official manager of the riparian buffer, Clearwater Conservancy, has been a fixture in the Centre County region purchasing and managing lands to meet conservation goals, primarily through conservation easements.

The group has been an integral part of the project as it has actively managed the riparian buffer as a part of its Slab Cabin Run Initiative, a conservation project that aims to protect the water supply in the Centre region.  

The Musser Gap Greenway project is still in its early stages, but it has already succeeded in facilitating initiatives that meet the needs of people in the Centre region community – farmers, hikers, naturalists and residents. All of whom rely on the region’s groundwater resources. 

Some photos of the property:​