Celebrating the river

Decades of partnerships

By FRITZ MAYER

RIVER VALLEY — There are three significant anniversaries regarding the river happening this year. Forty years ago, in 1968, Congress passed the National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act; 30 years ago, in 1978 Congress designated the river as the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River; and 20 years ago, in 1988, the Upper Delaware Council (UDC) was formed to oversee the River Management Plan.

The National Park Service (NPS) is marking the occasion with two events that will highlight the river and the partnerships that work to protect it.

On Saturday, October 25, an event, titled Upper Delaware Expo, will be held at Damascus Elementary School from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. There will be an opening ceremony at 10:30 a.m., which will spotlight the history of the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River over the last 30 years. Other events include the birds of prey program, presented by the Delaware Valley Raptor Center, and a reptiles and amphibians program, presented by the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission.

There will also be an exhibition of the work of David B. Soete, whose photographs depict the rich natural and cultural heritage of the river valley. There will also be food for sale throughout the day.

Another major event, the Upper Delaware 30-Year Retrospective, will be held on November 8 at the Central House Family Resort in Beach Lake, PA. The symposium will provide an opportunity to learn about the evolution, current operations and future of this unit of the NPS.

On November 10, 1978, President Jimmy Carter signed Public Law 96-625, the Omnibus Parks Acts, which included among its provisions the establishment of the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River.

That enabling legislation led to the drafting of a River Management Plan and to the 1988 incorporation of the UDC to coordinate implementation of the federal-state-local partnership management model that remains successfully in effect today.

Vidal Martinez, the NPS superintendent, in a recent interview, said the relationships between the park service, the UDC and other stakeholders have improved over time. “The idea with the River Management Plan was that the towns and other partners would collectively support the goal of protecting and preserving the scenic and recreational values of the river corridor. And among the key points were that there are appropriate practices and compatible land uses that won’t compromise the river corridor. And the partners now feel that it’s an investment that the park service is up here. In the past, that wasn’t so. But as time went on, it appears that there has been a change in the culture as to believing that the NPS and the UDC are meaningful organizations trying to do the right thing.”

The retrospective is co-sponsored by the NPS and UDC, and reservations are requested by October 31.

The event, which carries a $25 fee, will run from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and include breakfast and lunch.

For more information contact Laurie Ramie at 845/252-3022 or Sandra Schultz at 570/729-8251.