555-acre former hunting camp has been preserved in the Poconos near Bushkill Falls
The Conservation Fund purchased the camp at auction in 2021 for $1.8 million to save it from development. This week, the Fund turned around and sold it to the state for the same amount.
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/pmn/QZMNC7G735DF7N2NOTOIPBLXN4.jpg)
For generations, Camp PAWE was a private, gated haven for anglers and hunters in the Poconos, spread across 555 acres of ridges and knolls next to Pennsylvania’s Delaware State Forest and not far from Bushkill Falls and the Delaware Water Gap.
It boasted a shooting range and ATV trails. Whitetail deer, black bear, and wild turkey roamed amid the hardwood forest, grassland meadow, and clear watered Red Rock Run.
As of this week, it’s all now part of the adjacent state forest, which was already 83,519 acres spanning four counties. The land was preserved as part of an agreement between The Conservation Fund, a national nonprofit, and the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Bureau of Forestry (DCNR).
“DCNR is grateful for the opportunity to take over as stewards of this beautiful forested area, and we are excited about the what’s in store for Delaware State Forest with this new addition,” DCNR Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn said in the announcement.
The Conservation Fund purchased the camp at auction in 2021 for $1.8 million to save it from development. This week, The Conservation Fund sold it to the state for the same amount through grants from the DCNR and U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service’s Forest Legacy Program.
The land is in Lehman and Porter Townships within Pike County.
“Permanently conserving these 555 acres and adding them to the Delaware State Forest affords the highest level of protection of the land while ensuring the greatest possible public access,” said Kyle Shenk, the Conservation Fund’s Northeast regional director. “It’s the best of both worlds — and a sensational outcome for the people of Pennsylvania.”
Officials said Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation representing Pike County — Sen. Bob Casey Jr., Sen. John Fetterman, and Rep. Matt Cartwright — supported the use of federal funding for the purchase.
The new addition to Delaware State Forest includes more than 50 acres of wetlands along with Red Rock Run, a stream that supports native trout. It provides critical plant and wildlife habitat, officials said, and contains several seeps and springs.
Wesley Robinson, a spokesperson for the DCNR, said the agency would look at ways to improve the land for public use, but has no set plan yet.