From The Jersey Sierran, July - September 2022
If, upon your next visit to Center City Philadelphia or to Central Park in New York, you could enter through a magic door and be transported to what these areas looked like 400 years ago, would you go through? Just a short drive away from these metro areas you’ll find a wilderness with such lands—one of the gems of our national park systems—the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area! This well-loved but underfunded and heavily used park was established 57 years ago after the public fought and trounced a shortsighted pipe dream to create a dam to block the Delaware River. Today, this land needs some 21st century TLC.
One way to draw attention and resources to this land is to call it what it truly is—a national park. Acadia is the only national park in the Northeast. We deserve a well-funded and well-managed park that showcases the beautiful lands, byways, and historic river towns of our region. Before the sprawl spoils the last vestiges of bucolic lands that surround the park, we must protect the local viewshed and reinforce the Appalachian land corridor, which offers safe passage for animals migrating to adjust to climate change. Outdoor equity demands that inner-city children have a nearby place where they can immerse themselves in nature, rather than having to travel hundreds of miles to see a beautiful vista or a bear munching on some berries.
If international travelers flock to visit the park once it receives the status of a national park, will the parking lots overflow and the trails become overcrowded and degraded? Folks, the parking lots are already overflowing, and, especially during the pandemic, vans from the city just dump people along the river where there are no bathroom facilities. Diapers and trash are already strewn along the river’s edge from picnickers and tubers. But just looking at the Visitor Use Management Plan for the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area and the Middle Delaware National Scenic and Recreational River gives us the answer. Well-managed national parks provide more resources that deal with these issues of overuse.
They offer shuttle service so a hiker does not have to do an overused loop trail but can walk to their heart’s content. Afterward, hikers and bikers can get picked up and transported to their car outside the park.
When the preserve officially recognizes the traditional hunting lands of the Lenape nation, perhaps a reciprocal relationship between outdoorsmen and the Lenape people can showcase traditional activities for the next generation. In addition, outdoorsmen can teach inner-city children about camping, tracking, hunting, and fishing.
We have an opportunity to safeguard these lands, all the while availing the public of a wilderness experience at their doorstep. You don’t need a magic door to walk through; you need good public transportation, like the proposed Amtrack Manhattan-to-Scranton line (that could possibly be completed in three years) that will stop at the park’s doorstep in Portland, Pa., where a shuttle could whisk adventurers off to the park. We all need some imagination to make the best of this land while protecting the animals, plants, and their natural habitat. A national park is the best means to educate our next generation about wilderness. Wise management and funding are needed. Redesignating the recreation area as a national park and preserve is the best way to unlock the door for us to step into the future.
For more information on the Delaware Water Gap Recreational Area redesignation effort, please go to: Delvalpark.org