Education and Events
Forum on Threats to the River
DRGP hosted a timely forum on May 18th at the historic Prallsville Mill in Stockton NJ. The theme of the event was Threats to the River.
Carol Collier, Director of the Delaware River Basin Commission presented an overview of all the serious problems facing the Delaware. Betsy Lyman, Invasive Plant Coordinator, National Park Service, identified all the botanical species that currently threaten our native flora, and explained why attempts at eradication are important and urgent. Andrew Pitz, Vice President of Natural Lands Trust, examined the extent and scope of the problem of climate change, and offered some hope for the future in the form of action individuals and organizations might take.
The meeting ended on an upbeat note that all is not yet hopeless. Click here to see a write up from the Bucks County Herald by reporter Susan Charkes. Fora of this sort are part of the continuing educational responsibility and mission of the Greenway Partnership.
Lenape Naming Ceremony for Highlands Hub
On June 20, DRGP hosted a ceremony in State Gamelands #56 in Tinicum Township to name the Pennsylvania Highlands Hub composed of Tinicum, Nockamixon, and Bridgeton Townships. Conducting the Lenape naming ceremony was Assistant Chief Shelley DePaul of the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania. Chief DePaul smoked the attendees with sage and cedar to prepare for the formal ceremony, and gave the name of Welakamike Woods to the previously unnamed hub. It joins other resource- rich hubs with Lenape names – the Unami Hills and the Conawego Mountains – that dot the length of the Highlands across the state. The Mid -Atlantic Highlands, of which the Pennsylvania Highlands forms more than half, was officially designated in 2004 as a National Conservation Area. It provides drinking water for over 25 million people, and habitat for over 100 plants and 50 animal species that are threatened, rare or endangered. It is an important recreational area, and contains thousands of acres of active agricultural lands.
DRGP is represented on the committee that oversees the Highlands, and participates in conserving the resources of this important area.
Delaware River Heritage Trail Website
DRGP has built a website for the Delaware River Heritage Trail. A grant of $8,174 from the NJ Council for the Humanities was used by DRGP to research, write and design a website that features 30 sites of historic and cultural interest along a 33-mile stretch of the Delaware River from Trenton to Palmyra. The website link is: http://www.delrivgreenway.org/heritagetrail/
When complete , the Delaware River Heritage Trail will be a 60-mile multi-use loop trail along sections of both the Pennsylvania and the New Jersey sides of the Wild and Scenic Lower Delaware River. Burlington County will construct the first segment of the trail - from Bordentown to Burlington - this year. The New Jersey segment will eventually extend from Trenton to Palmyra; the Pennsylvania segment will parallel it, from the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge back to Morrisville and across to Trenton.
The Delaware is the last free-flowing river in the eastern US and is the longest federally designated "wild and scenic" river on the eastern seaboard. The web project will introduce many more visitors to the history of the river and its natural, cultural and recreational resources. DRGP is grateful to the NJ Council for the Humanities for its support for this project.
September's 'Launch and Learn!' a hit!
Participants embarked at the launch site in Lambertville, NJ aboard the steamboat, SPLASH, and were treated to a wonderful twilight cruise on the river, while getting a chance to learn about the birds and animals of the Delaware River Valley from local experts. Featured were two great speakers and live animals: Birds of the River Valley, Diane Allison, Tinicum Conservancy, and Animals from Local Habitats, Diane Nickerson, Mercer County Wildlife Center. Expert guides, hors d'oeuvres by Emily, and wines were enjoyed by all! The cruise was funded in part by the National Park Service