The Delaware River flows through the Walpack Bend within the 70,000-acre Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, about 10 miles north of the water gap itself. The New Jersey Sierra Club has been a chief proponent of redesignating the national recreation area to the Delaware River National Park and Lenape Preserve.Steve Novak | For lehighvalleylive.com
The New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club is one of the main drivers of a proposal to turn the federal lands of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area into a full-fledged national park.
So it was noteworthy when opponents spied one line in the N.J. environmental club’s most recent quarterly newsletter. It said that the chapter executive board voted in August to withdraw from an internal resolution with other state chapters that would have encouraged the national Sierra Club to support the recreation area’s redesignation to Delaware River National Park and Lenape Preserve.
N.J. Sierra Club leaders who spoke to lehighvalleylive.com said the vote wasn’t a reflection on the project itself, they just didn’t think the resolution was ready.
“There’s going to be more discussions on this within the club,” chapter chairperson Rich Isaac said, speaking generally about the national park project.
Opponents like Sandy Hull, a Sussex County resident who leads the No National Park group, believe it reveals a schism.
“That tells me that part of their support base has now eroded,” Hull said.
But she also acknowledged that it was only “one step to getting this thing squashed.” The project also has the support of the Sierra Club’s Pennsylvania chapter, which did not return a request for comment on Wednesday.
There also was speculation while the project website was down for a time, but it is back up and running after switching to a new host.
The Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area covers 70,000 acres in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, straddling the Delaware River from I-80 on north to the New York border. It was formed half a century ago when the federal government seized the land for the planned Tocks Island Dam and reservoir, which was never built.
(Can’t see the map? Click here.)
The water gap drew 4.3 million visitors and generated more than $200 million for the surrounding communities in 2021. It is run by the National Park Service, which has taken no public stance on the matter.
Proponents say the national recreation area could be an even bigger draw, and better preserve the local river environment, with national park status.
But hunting organizations don’t want game land accessible as a national recreation area to be barred by a national park designation. Counties and municipalities have withheld support pending more information. Residents with long memories of the federal takeover are leery of any changes. And while environmental groups generally seem to support the effort, the Delaware Riverkeepers Network has come out against it over concerns of increased development and traffic around the park’s borders.
This map shows the proposed boundaries for Delaware River National Park and Lenape Preserve under a Sierra Club proposal to redesignate the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. The national park (dark green) would cover about 10,000 acres of river bank and some scenic waterfalls, while the preserve (light green) would encompass 56,000 outlying acres. The Delaware Water Gap, at the southern end, would be split between the preserve and state parklands (yellow). Hunting would be permitted in the preserve.Courtesy of the Alliance for the Delaware River National Park and Lenape Preserve
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