Talen Energy has abruptly closed to the public 400 acres that include the Holtwood Park and Arboretum, as well as a trailhead for the popular Kelly’s Run Trail, the county’s only national recreational trail.

“That’s going to be very contentious when you consider people used it all their lives and all of a sudden you’re going to shut the door,” is how Martic Township Supervisor Duane Sellers reacted to the news from a LNP reporter.

“We consider these parcels private property, and not available for public use,” Talen said in a brief news release Wednesday.

“Any property owned by Talen Energy has been properly posted and is no longer available for public use,” said Talen spokesman Todd Martin.

“Talen Energy has no immediate plans to sell, develop or donate the land we continue to own at Holtwood.”

Later Wednesday afternoon, in response to heated complaints on Talen's Facebook page, Talen replied to one comment: "W

Allentown-based Talen, which took over the Holtwood Dam in 2015 from longtime owner PPL, sold the dam and surrounding properties to Bermuda-based Brookfield Renewable Energy on April 1.

As part of the deal, Brookfield only took buffering land required by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission as part of its operating license.

That left Talen with mostly wooded tracts bordered by Old Holtwood Road on the south side. Talen has chosen to close the properties long used by the public for recreation such as hiking, hunting and picnicking.

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The Holtwood Park includes a baseball diamond, two picnic pavilions and an arboretum with trees commonly found in Lancaster and York counties.

In addition, the park provided parking and a trailhead for the Kelly’s Run Trail, one of Lancaster County’s most popular with its string of waterfalls through a deep River Hills ravine.

The Conestoga Trail also goes through the park and it was used annually for the rugged 10-mile Conestoga Trail Run.

A majority of the 2-mile Kelly’s Run Trail is now owned by the Lancaster County Conservancy. But its end — or beginning — is through Holtwood Park.

The conservancy also was unaware of the closure of the park when contacted Wednesday.

Talen’s Martin said that since the power producer “no longer has operations or responsibilities to provide public access under a FERC license” it chose to close access to the public.

That does not sit well with Sellers. He predicted the closure would be “hotly debated” by residents and officials in Martic Township.

Sellers says the park was there at least in the 1960s and maybe longer.

Sellers also wondered how utilities could continue to close land to the public that federal authorities once dictated had to be open in exchange for taking private land for energy use.