June 5, 2026. It’s be a long road, but we finally made it. The 2026 Master Plan is ready for adoption.
Master Plan 2026 Cover
2026 Master Plan
We Listened: The Substantive Changes between the Initial Draft and the Final Draft:
Page 5 – Replacement of regional and local location maps with Boundary/Jurisdiction Map and Ownership Map
Page 7 – Added KRDA boundary to aerial image and created additional text detailing wildlife species and trail linkages.
Page 14 – Removed two pictures and replaced with text clarifying the structure of the chapter, the required approval of improvements by the property owner, and the purpose of improvements proposed beyond of the property currently leased by BMW.
Page 15 – Replaces Plan v2 with Plan v3
Page 17 - Item 2: Created additional text regarding invasive species eradication plan.
Page 20 – Item 8: Created additional text regarding trail standards.
Page 22 – Item 12: Created additional text regarding trail connections. Created text clarifying picture of footbridge.
Page 24 – Item 14: Created additional text regarding native species and invasive species eradication.
Page 28 – Item 19: Created additional text regarding watercraft access.
Page 30 – Item 22: Created additional text regarding trail types.
Page 35 – Implementation: Included an additional statement requiring property owner review and approval prior to the implementation of every improvement.
Page 36 – Implementation Table: Included additional Partners within Items 12, 14, 15, 19, and 22.
Blue Mountain Wildlife will be reviewing the Plan in June for possible adoption. This may occur as early as the Blue Mountain Wildlife 25th Anniversary Open House at the Kernsville Dam Recreation Area on Saturday June 27th (rain date Sunday June 28th). Once adopted, it will be automatically amended to include every letter of support for the Plan received by Blue Mountain Wildlife. It will also be used to guide Blue Mountain Wildlife in future projects and it will be used as a tool to assist Blue Mountain Wildlife in achieving the Plan’s goals.
You can read the earlier posts below to see what it took to create this Plan:
When Blue Mountain Wildlife set out to preserve the Kernsville Dam and the associated desilting basin in 2001, we started with a plan. Once we secured the lease to the property, we developed a plan. Less than a decade later, we updated the plan. And now, we are working on a new plan to take the Kerny into the future.
Blue Mountain Wildlife has partnered with Watkins Architect to draft a new plan for the Kernsville Dam Recreation Area of the future. And we’d like your help in making that happen. The plan below is the first draft - the collected ideas of the Officers and Directors of Blue Mountain Wildlife. We’d like you, the people who visit and love the Kerny, to check it out and give us your thoughts, opinions, concerns, and comments. We will collect your comments over the next few months. We will then review them and incorporate your good ideas into the plan. We will also be presenting this draft plan to the many stakeholders of the Kerny - local and regional groups and local municipalities - in order to collect and incorporate their comments as well. Once we’ve incorporated all of the comments received, we’ll polish the revised plan and present it to the public and stakeholders for a final review before Blue Mountain Wildlife formally adopts the new Master Plan sometime next year.
Click the image above for a larger view
The plan is accompanied by The Master Plan 2026 book, which provides more detail on the Kerny and the elements of the Master Plan. Click here to download a PDF copy of The Master Plan 2026 book (which includes the Master Plan).
We ask you to take a look at the plan above and let us know what you think. You can leave your comments here, for all to see, by clicking on the title of this article at the top of the page. That will open a Comment Box below, wherein you can write your observations, comments and questions. Or you can email us your comments by clicking the button below, which should open up a new email addressed to Blue Mountain Wildlife. Then simply write your comments and click SEND. Either way, we’d appreciate if you included your name (although that is optional), the date you made your comments, and the municipality in which you currently reside.
If the link does not open a new email, you can email us your comments manually at info@bluemountainwildlife.com. You can also snail-mail your comments to:
Blue Mountain Wildlife
Attn: New Master Plan
P.O. Box 389
Hamburg, PA 19526
Below are listed the public meetings that were held during the public comment phase of the Master Plan process. In April, Blue Mountain Wildlife will be reviewing the comments received in February and March and will be processing those comments and incorporating them into the final draft of the Master Plan. Comments received after mid-April will be processed and incorporated into the final draft only if Blue Mountain Wildlife has not completed the final draft at the time the comment was received.
Public Meeting Dates
1/29/26 Kick-Off Meeting - Tilden Twp Municipal Building 7 PM
2/2/26 Centerport Borough Hall 7 PM
2/4/26 West Brunswick Twp Municipal Building 5 PM
2/10/26 Perry Twp Municipal Building 7 PM
2/11/26 Tilden Twp Municipal Building 7 PM
2/17/26 Shoemakersville Borough Hall 7 PM
2/24/26 Centre Twp Municipal Building 7 PM
3/10/26 Hamburg Borough Hall 4 PM
3/10/26 Windsor Twp Municipal Building 7 PM
3/12/26 Upper Bern Twp Municipal Building 6 PM
3/17/26 Port Clinton Boro Hall (St. John’s Church) 6 PM
3/31/26 Hamburg Strand Theater Party Room 7 PM