In the far western corner of Maryland, Steve Storck (photo above) keeps fighting for the old hemlocks in Swallows Falls State Park. As I reported a couple of months ago, the plan to replace a single-lane bridge over the Youghiogheny River, near the entrance to the park, with a wider parallel span would cut into a grove of hemlock trees, some of them more than a century old. Storck, a nearby landowner and champion of the river and forest, has been trying to convince the state that the new bridge is unnecessary — certainly not worth the cutting of potentially hundreds of trees.
If the 150-foot bridge must be replaced, he argues, then Garrett County should build the new one where the present one stands. That would cause a road closure, but it would save the trees and what Storck calls the historic nature of the area, including parts of a road and trail established during the Great Depression by the Civilian Conservation Corps.
“The bridge is to be replaced with a concrete highway-style bridge 100 feet closer to Swallow Falls [State Park], destroying historic resources and clearing five percent of the [historic] Youghiogheny Grove old-growth forest,” he says.
The current bridge, a steel truss, appears to be in good shape, bearing the weight of, on average, 400 to 465 vehicles a day, according to a study submitted to the state.
If you’ve been to Swallow Falls, you know that the bridge requires drivers approaching from one side to yield to oncoming motorists. As a long-time visitor to Swallow Falls, I’ve always found the bridge a quaint traffic-calming measure. It requires you to slow way, way down, which puts you in a good frame of mind as you enter the park.
Nobody asked me, and you can call me a tree hugger, but I don’t see the urgency in replacing the current bridge.
But Garrett County wants a new one.
Here’s the thing: Parts of the area are within the Youghiogheny Scenic and Wild River Corridor. To allow the county to build a new bridge, the state had to grant an exception, and that’s what DNR Secretary Josh Kurtz did. “The scenic and wild character of the river and corridor as a whole will not be injuriously impacted by the construction of the new bridge,” Kurtz said in a letter approving the plan.
The State Highway Administration also said it sees “no adverse effect.”
But Storck is still fighting and he’s appealing to Marylanders to join him.
“You can help stop this by writing to Elizabeth Hughes (elizabeth.hughes@maryland.gov) at Maryland Historical Trust and asking her to require the county to replace the bridge in its current footprint to save our history and the natural beauty of this treasured park.”
