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Officials: No Public Access To Maryland's Secret State Park

By MICHAEL A. SAWYERS
Cumberland Times-News

CUMBERLAND, Md. (AP) -- The thing about Wills Mountain State Park is that you can't get there from here, or from anywhere, at least not legally.

The park is a 357-acre parcel of state land astride the southern tip of Wills Mountain that overlooks Cumberland.

It is surrounded by private land, including a nearly vertical hillside and is the only Maryland state park without public access.

"The only way the public could legally access the park is to have permission to cross adjacent private properties," said Nita Settina, director of the Maryland Park Service. "Because of the private lands and the cliff, it is pretty much an island."

Settina said the state purchased 350 acres from Carl G. Valentine for $160,000 in 1998 and another 51 acres were donated by George and Joan Henderson.

There is a small, private inholding for communications towers.

"A lot of Cumberland citizens were interested in preventing development there," Settina said. "They wanted to preserve the viewshed."

During the mid-1990s, there were unsuccessful efforts to build a Native American gambling casino at the site.

The park abuts the property of the former Artmor Plastics plant that has been destroyed and vandalized at the top of Wills Mountain Road. A locked gate a short distance uphill from Piedmont Avenue prevents vehicular access to the plant and the edge of the park.

The white Artmor building and Wills Mountain can be easily seen from many Cumberland Vantage points.

The park, the mountain and the creek at its base are all named for Indian Will, a Shawnee Native American who lived nearby in the 18th Century.

Law enforcement on park ground is provided by the Maryland Natural Resources Police and the Allegany County Office of the Sheriff, Settina said.

In spite of the fact that the state park is not within Cumberland municipal limits, in 1998 the city signed a 20-year lease -- that stipulates the city pays $1 per year -- with the Department of Natural Resources to manage the parcel for preservation and passive recreational use, according to Settina.

City Administrator Jeff Rhodes told the Times-News he is not aware of any management of the land the city has undertaken during his lengthy municipal career.

"As far as the advantage or disadvantage of leasing the land, I cannot speak to what the leadership felt or intended at the time," Rhodes said. "It would be my assumption that the city was sensitive to the viewshed and wanted to protect the appearance and management of the viewshed area that overlooked the city. Additionally, it seems clear from the documentation that the city intended to provide forest management and recreational management."

Rhodes said he believes that development of a public access would likely be prohibited by cost.

Kristen Peterson, DNR spokeswoman, said, "Just like all of our properties, we are always looking to create and enhance public access on the land and water and Wills Mountain State Park is no exception."

It is illegal to hunt or ride off-road vehicles on the state park, Settina said.

However, according to NRP Lt. Harry Cage laws to that effect were not enforced in the past.

"There are no signs along the boundary telling people hunting is not allowed," Cage said. "At one time, say 20 years ago, there was some hunting pressure there, but anymore the most you might see is a hunter during deer rifle season. It's hard to get to."

Cage said also that he was aware that vehicles are driven on the property.

Rocky Gap State Park Superintendent Sarah Milbourne also has Wills Mountain State Park under her wing.

"This spring we began boundary recovery," Milbourne said, referring to applying yellow paint onto trees and posting signs that identify the property line. That effort should be completed this fall. On Wednesday, there was no paint of signs on the main dirt road leading into the park from Wills Mountain Road.

Milbourne said there are globally rare plant species on the property, but would not reveal names because of their scarcity. "The protection of such species can justify the purchase of a property," she said.

Although there are other state parks, such as Palmer in Harford County and Patuxent River in Howard and Montgomery counties, that are undeveloped, access exists from public roads.

Brian Wargo, a birder from Pittsburgh, told the Times-News he enters the state park regularly as a participant in the Cumberland Gap Hawk Watch.

"The sky above Cumberland is a superhighway for migratory raptors; bald eagles, osprey, peregrine falcons, broad-winged hawks, Coopers hawks, golden eagles, and several other species," Wargo said. "The birds really start moving in September and continue all the way through early December." See www.hawkcount.org.

The records show, for example, that one day in 2013, 23 golden eagles passed through during an eight-hour period. Last October, more than 100 red-tailed hawks passed overhead in just four hours.

The birds, it seems, may be the only users with unfettered access to Maryland's secret state park.

(Copyright 2015 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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