JAMES CREEK

Shy Beaver road, boat launch closed

Shy Beaver boat launch area is closed through Oct. 16 to install a new public restroom at the boat launch area.

Shy Beaver Road also is closed to allow for associated construction activities, including delivery of prefabricated restroom equipment.

Local farms added to preservation rolls

One Blair County and one Cambria County farm are among 25 added to Pennsylvania’s Farmland Preservation Program.

The new additions cover 2,224 acres. Preserved farms are protected from future residential, commercial or industrial development.

A newly preserved former dairy farm in the Morrisons Cove region of Blair County is now a crop operation that supports a local dairy farm by providing crops for cattle. The 170.29-acre operation is owned by Linda Longenecker. Morrisons Cove has some of the best farmland soils in the state. Including the Longenecker farm, there are now 56 farms and 8,391 acres preserved in Blair county.

In Cambria County, the Floyd M. and Marian D. Farabaugh Farm #2, an 85-acre crop farm, was preserved.

Since the program began in 1988, federal, state, county and local governments have purchased permanent easements on 5,781 Pennsylvania farms totaling 589,109 acres.