You are looking at an ecological transformation: what you see here is the former Gunter Valley Dam, which used to block Trout Run in the Tuscarora forest of south-central Pennsylvania. The reservoir from the dam supplied the community in Shippensburg with water from the early 1960s, when it was built, until about 2010, when engineers discovered so many structural problems with the dam that the DCNR (the Pennsylvania Department of Natural Resources) decided it was cost prohibitive to repair.
In an enlightened move, the DCNR decided to spend $7 million to remove the dam and restore the valley to its natural condition. In 2017, the company Gannett Fleming took on this job, and has since begun to reforest the valley – you can just make out some of the plantings encased in white cylinders in the first photo. The stream meanders now in a way that encourages a positive ecological wetland habitat. The area has many trails that volunteers maintain, as you can see from the second photo of a descending trail-line.
Source(s): Eresources.gfnet.com/2018CSR/projects-gunter.html .
