August 1974. Little Beaver Creek (Ohio and Pennsylvania) Wild and Scenic River Study
On October 2, 1968, the Congress of the United States enacted the Wild
and Scenic Rivers Act, Public Law 90-542. In this Act, the Congress
stated:
“It is hereby declared to be the policy of the United
States that certain selected rivers of the Nation, which,
with their immediate environments, possess outstandingly
remarkable scenic, recreational, geologic, fish and wildlife,
historic, cultural, or other similar values, shall be preserved in free-·flowing condition, and that they and their
immediate environments shall be protected for the benefit
and enjoyment of present and future generations. The Congress
declares that the established national policy of dam and
other construction at appropriate sections of the rivers of the
United States needs to be complemented by a policy that would
preserve other selected rivers or sections thereof in their
free-flowing condition to protect the water quality of such
rivers and to fulfill other vital national conservation
purposes.”
The Act established the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, designated
eight rivers as the initial components of the system, and prescribed
methods and standards by which additional rivers could be added to the
system from time to time. Twenty-seven rivers were also designated by
the Act for study as potential additions to the National System, including
in Ohio and Pennsylvania the following portions of the Little Beaver Creek:
The segment of the North and Middle Forks of the Little
Beaver River (Creek) in Columbiana County, from a point
in the vicinity of Negly (Negley) and Elkton, Ohio, downstream to a point in the vicinity of East Liverpool, Ohio.”
The Act calls for a determination of the suitability of Little Beaver
Creek for inclusion in the National System and, if it is to be included,
recommendations and guidelines pertaining to the administration and
management of the river environment.