In 1962, where was Upper Pine Bottom (and all state parks and picnic areas) transferred to?
During the Great Depression, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) set up nine camps in Tiadaghton State Forest. The camps included two near Upper Pine Bottom State Park: CCC Camp S-82-Pa (Waterville, also known as Haneyville) was on Upper Pine Bottom Run about 2.5 miles (4.0 km) west of the park and operated from May 1933 to 1941; CCC Camp S-129-Pa (Little Pine) was at the site of nearby Little Pine State Park and operated from 1933 to 1937. The CCC planted large numbers of trees in the state forest, did work in the park, and built a pavilion at the site in 1936. Although the roof of a structure was still visible in the park in a 1959 aerial photo, as of 2019 there are no pavilions or other buildings in the park. The United States' entry into the Second World War in 1941 led to the end of the CCC, and all its camps were closed by the summer of 1942.In 1950 the park was known as "Upper Pine Bottom State Forest Picnic Area" and was mentioned in a New York Times article on the Pine Creek Gorge. On November 11, 1954, the Pennsylvania Geographic Board made the picnic area name official. The Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry's Division of State Parks became the Bureau of State Parks in 1962 and Upper Pine Bottom (and all state parks and picnic areas) were transferred to it from Forestry that year. In 1972, Upper Pine Bottom was one of 10 state forest picnic areas kept by the Bureau of State Parks (35 were transferred to the Bureau of Forestry), and Forrey's 1984 History of Pennsylvania's State Parks referred to it as a state forest picnic area. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (Penn DOT) 1993 map still called it a picnic area, but Cupper's 1993 Our Priceless Heritage: Pennsylvania's State Parks 1893–1993 called it a state park, as did the Penn DOT 2002 map.As of 2019 Upper Pine Bottom State Park is a roadside park for day use only, with a small parking lot and a few picnic tables. In addition to picnics, its chief use is as a parking area for local hunters, anglers, hikers, cross country skiers, and snowmobilers. Staff from nearby Little Pine State Park maintain Upper Pine Bottom, and it is one of the smallest state parks in Pennsylvania. Prouty Place State Park, a picnic area to the northwest in Potter County, is also 5 acres (2.0 ha). Only Sand Bridge State Park, another picnic area to the south in Union County, is smaller, at 3 acres (1.2 ha).
the Bureau of State Parks