Large parts of the Lackawanna River watershedincluding its upper reaches, the Moosic Mountains, West Mountain, and the North Pocono Plateauare largely forested. However, large areas of urban and suburban development occur in the river's valley from Pittston to Carbondale, with some urban sprawl reaching as far as halfway from the river to the ridge tops. Abandoned mining land lies between many of the developed areas in this part of the watershed. Such land contains at least of culm banks, overburden piles, silt basins, non-vegetated soil, and degraded waterways. One of the main owners of forested land in the watershed is the Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry, which owns the Lackawanna State Forest that straddles the border between the Lackawanna River and Lehigh River watersheds. The Pennsylvania Game Commission also owns more than several thousand acres of Pennsylvania State Game Lands in the watershed. Additionally, there are more than of wetlands in the watershed and another historically existed. All of the minor tributaries of the river begin in wetlands in the West Mountains or the Moosic Mountains. Riparian wetlands occur along the lower reaches of the river and a feature known as the Duryea Swamp is located in former mining pits at the river's mouth.