Seventeen million of us drink its water and it has the distinction of being the longest undammed river east of the Mississippi: It's the Delaware River, named for the 16th century Baron De La Warr (if you remember your American social studies classes). The spectacular Delaware Water Gap (pictured below) and its National Recreation Area
are among the top ten national parks for visitors. If you paddle or hike in the park, along the Appalachian Trail -- or in many of the public lands along the river --- you've visited one of the best natural areas within a day's drive of much of the Northeast.
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| Photo courtesy of John Parke, New Jersey Audubon |
Now,
the Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed (CDRW) is uniting organizations across the region for the first time and advocating with a collective voice for protecting and restoring the mighty waterway and watershed. Last fall, the new coalition hosted a
two-day event that brought together more than 200 attendees including folks from 60 organizations.
Now,
PennFuture, as a part of the Coalition's steering committee, is working to include even more members in the CDRW. Do you volunteer for a watershed association in the region and want to learn more about leveraging your voice with elected officials and decision makers? Are you part of a fishing organization whose local tributaries face pollution, runoff, and habitat loss and you'd like to meet others working on the same issues? Does your land trust work to preserve wetlands and forests in the region?
Contact us to learn more about the cost (free!) and benefits of joining the Coalition. Join with PennFuture, National Wildlife Federation, New Jersey Audubon Society, and 50 other community organizations and learn what you can do to help guide our work.
Kate Gibbons is northeastern Pennsylvania outreach coordinator for PennFuture and is based in Wilkes-Barre.
