For years the area behind the Dairy Delite at Routes 6 and 59 has been used to launch kayaks and canoes into Brown Run, which provides easy access to the Allegheny River.

But over the years the streambank had eroded, making it more difficult to use the area as a launch site. That problem has been corrected thanks to the Warren County Conservation District and the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy – with a lot of help from Mark Keyes, who purchased Dairy Delite in 2020. It was a match made in kayaking heaven.

Access to state funding and the expertise of the Warren County Conservation District meant nothing if Keyes wasn’t on board with the project. It would have been easy for Keyes to say he wasn’t interested in pursuing a streambank restoration project on his property. But the easy path, in our opinion, wouldn’t have been the right path.

A grant from Pennsylvania Organization for Watersheds and Rivers provided funding for the canoe launch, with the Soil and Water Conservation District coordinating that part of the project. The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy worked with contractors from Fox & Sons Excavating during installation.

The result is a new kayak and canoe launch on a safer, ecologically restored site that we hope benefits a longstanding Warren area business and those who want to spend the summer out on the water here in Warren County. The new boat launch doesn’t have ample parking, so Keyes asks visitors to drop their boats off at the launch, located furthest from Route 59, then park in the lower parking lot on Route 59 so that there is still parking for Dairy Delite Customers.

We’ve spent a lot of time talking about ways to boost outdoors tourism in Warren County and spent a lot of money for that purpose as well. It’s money well spent. The state’s Economic Impact of Travel Report shows nearly $125 million on tourism-related spending in Warren County – and $124.6 million in tourism-related spending in Warren County. Information gleaned in June by the Warren County Visitors Bureau showed the average tourist spent $78 in a restaurant and $63 on retail last month. Overall, 17% of the money spent in the county in May came from visitors. Of that, 23% of money spent in local businesses came from visitors, 18% of local restaurant receipts came from visitors, 37% of retail spending came from visitors and 80% of accommodations receipts came from visitors to the area.

Projects that restore our local environment, help a local business and make it easier to enjoy one the Allegheny River are worth our time and attention. Restoring the Brown Run boat launch falls into that category.