NARROWSBURG, NY — The Upper Delaware Council (UDC) marked the start of February by swearing in its 2023 officers in a meeting on February 1. Shohola Township board of supervisors chairman Gregory Hoeper administered the oaths of office.

Shohola Township representative Aaron Robinson was sworn in as the UDC’s 2023 chairperson. Robinson served previously as the council’s 2018 chairperson and as vice-chairperson in 2022; he has participated in advocacy and research work along the Upper Delaware River since his service at age 18 as the secretary-treasurer of advocacy organization Catskill Waters, and ran the businesses of Robinson’s Sawmill and Firewood-on-Time.

Virginia “Ginny” Dudko, Town of Deerpark representative, was sworn in as the council’s vice-chairperson. She has served as an alternate representative since 2011 and became a primary representative in 2022; she taught kindergarten in the Eldred Central School District from 1972 to 2002, and since 2004 has served as a volunteer and substitute teacher.

Berlin Township representative Alan “Al” Henry was sworn in as the UDC’s secretary-treasurer, a post he held previously from August 2013 through 2014 and from 2016 to 2022, while serving as the UDC’s chairperson in 2015. Henry had a 32-year career with the National Park Service (NPS), spending all but three years with the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River, before his retirement in 2009 from his post as chief ranger.

National Park Service Superintendent Lindsey Kurnath, left, UDC Resources and Land Use Specialist Kerry Engelhardt and UDC Executive Director Laurie …

NPS staffing changes

Following the swearing-in, the UDC welcomed Lindsey Kurnath, the new NPS superintendent for the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River.

Kurnath hails from Rochester, and joined the NPS in 2010 following a stint with the Environmental Protection Agency. She served since 2020 as the deputy superintendent of Fire Island National Seashore, and holds a master’s degree in environmental management and in public policy from Duke University in Durham, NC, as well as a bachelor’s degree in biology from Boston College.

“I’m really hoping that I’m able to give all of you, as well as the park staff, some stability,” Kurnath told the council. “I have an analytical, measured, thoughtful approach so far in my career, so I’m hoping to bring that strategy and hopefully that consistency.”

Kristina Heister, who served as superintendent for the Upper Delaware since 2014, left for a position as the deputy superintendent of the Gettysburg National Park and Eisenhower National Historic Site in 2020. The Upper Delaware has seen several acting superintendents in the years since, and superintendent Joe Salvatore, who joined as a permanent superintendent at the start of 2021, passed away unexpectedly in July 2022. The office’s staff has experienced turnover as well; most recently, community and land use planner Cody Hendrix left for an assignment elsewhere.

The UDC and park staff have done a great job preserving the natural resources of the area, said Kurnath. She thanked the UDC in advance for its patience and corrections as she became accustomed to the role: “I like to think I’m a quick study, but I know it’s going to take me a few months.”

Robinson welcomed Kurnath, and said that the UDC’s “excellent” staff would be a great resource. “It’s nice to have a superintendent that hopefully will be here a while,” he said.

“I hope so,” Kurnath replied.

And in other business…

Laurie Ramie, UDC executive director, told the council that she was planning a coordinating summit later in February, and will invite the area’s elected officials to attend and to hear about the financial plight of the UDC. There were eight elected officials newly representing the Upper Delaware following the most recent election cycle, she said.

The council set a February 24 date for the meeting.

Minutes from the January 24 meeting of the UDC’s project review committee discuss the Skinners Falls Bridge repair project; preliminary design work for the bridge will not start until after the Planning and Environmental Linkages study and the National Environmental Policy Act review is completed. The process will near its end in winter 2024, according to the minutes. Ramie told the council at its February 1 meeting that she applied for the UDC to be a participating agency, increasing its level of input for the project, and was denied; the UDC will remain as a member of the project advisory committee.

And the UDC voted to recommend for substantial conformance a new zoning ordinance in Lackawaxen Township, creating a “Boat, Golf Cart and RV Storage/Winterization Business” use. UDC resources and land use specialist Kerry Engelhardt told the council she had worked with the township on tweaks to the ordinance, and that there were currently two businesses in the township it would apply to, neither of them in the river corridor.