Cedar Run

This Coldwater Conservation Plan was initiated by the Pennsylvania Environmental Council and the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay to ultimately improve the health of the Cedar Run Watershed and to restore the fisheries.  Prioritized recommendations included at the back of the Plan are provided for municipalities and local organizations to take initiative in improving the health of the Watershed.  

This initiative is designed to aid in conserving and protecting our coldwater streams by building local awareness and support.  The plan identifies potential problems and opportunities for stream conservation and may lead to a more detailed watershed study, ultimately improving the health of coldwater ecosystem.

The Cedar Run Watershed is located in eastern Cumberland County within the Great Valley Section of the Ridge and Valley Province.   It generally flows from the southwest to the northeast through mostly urban lands in Lower Allen, Upper Allen and Hampden townships; Mechanicsburg, Shiremanstown and Camp Hill boroughs and a small portion of Monroe and East Pennsboro townships.  Eighty-five percent of Cedar Run’s 13.86 square mile watershed is underlain with limestone, a water-soluble carbonate rock that acts as an acid buffer. The dissolving rock leads to underground caves, sink holes and aquifers.  Limestone aquifers, and the underground springs that emanate from them, help keep water temperatures low and conducive to trout habitat.

Cedar Run has a rich history surrounding the brown trout population it supports. The Main Branch and the Shiremanstown Branch have maintained a well-buffered coldwater fishery, evidenced by a naturally reproducing brown trout population and an associated healthy aquatic macroinvertebrate community.  Beginning in the late 1800’s Cedar Run produced some of the finest brown trout fishing in the state for sixty-five years.  One of the state’s first hatcheries was established in 1880 at the confluence of the Rossmoyne Branch and the Willow Park Branch with the Main Branch.  The hatchery was later converted to a watercress farm and then a duck operation.  A 1982 survey of Cedar Run found a healthy brown trout population, with a diverse age and size stratification of wild trout, suggesting that natural reproduction was taking place.  A recommendation was subsequently made to the Department of Environmental Resources, now the Department of Environmental Protection, to designate Cedar Run as a High Quality Coldwater Fishery.  In 1930, Loch Leven trout, a species of brown trout from Scotland , was stocked in Cedar Run.  To this day, anglers are still fishing 16-inch Lock Leven trout out of Cedar Run.

Contact:

Erin P. Albright

Program Assistant
Pennsylvania Environmental Council
130 Locust Street, Suite 200
Harrisburg, PA 17101

717-230-8044 ext. 18

Fax - 717-230-8045

ealbright@pecpa.org

www.pecpa.org