Make most of ‘wild and scenic’ Delaware River, congressman says
By: John Tredrea
Backed by officials of the National Park Service, U.S. Congressman Rush Holt appeared at Washington Crossing Park Jan. 30 to call on area officials and residents to "get to work" on making the most of the opportunity provided by the recent federal designation of the lower Delaware River as "wild and scenic."
"This designation does prevent damming of this section of the Delaware," the congressman said. "But most of the other benefits are on us (at the local level) to bestow. The designation does not explicitly or automatically give them to us."
He added, "Wild and Scenic River designation encourages natural and historic preservation and helps preserve the future of ecologically sensitive recreation areas."
The congressman called on area officials to accept invitations, to be sent out soon, for a regional forum on how to deal with the designation, as "wild and scenic," of a 65-mile stretch of the Delaware extending from the Delaware Water Gap in the northern part of the state south to Washington Crossing in Hopewell Township.
The forum will be held in Prallsville Mills in Stockton.
In 1978, 110 miles of the river extending north of the Water Gap were designated a Wild and Scenic River area by the federal government.
Congressman Holt and Bill Sharpe of the National Park Service said the "wild and scenic" designation will aid communities by providing federal planning, technical and financial assistance to help protect the river.
Federal money will not be used to buy land along the river and deed-restrict it against development, Mr. Sharpe said. Rather, federal assistance will be geared toward helping towns enact land-use regulations that would help preserve as much land along the river in its natural state as possible.
Examples of local land use regulations that can help, Mr. Sharpe said, are limitations on the amount of ground near the river that can be covered with impervious surface, such as blacktop and transfer of development rights away from lands near the river. Aiding the work needed to enact such laws, he said, would be compilation of natural resource inventories by municipalities.
"The lower Delaware River flows through the heart of one of the most heavily populated and industrialized corridors in our nation," Mr. Holt said. "Sprawl, increased runoff created from development and air pollution from more cars and heavy industry threaten the health of the lower Delaware. This designation" as a wild and scenic river will ensure "that the future environmental economic benefits of the lower Delaware River are protected."
The federal designation of the 65 miles of the lower Delaware River as "wild and scenic" became law at the end of the last year.