For three decades, the Upper Delaware Council has faithfully carried out its mission outlined in the document that gave birth to the organization, even though government funding for its operation has never fully come through, according to Executive Director Laurie Ramie.
Now, as economic conditions evolve and inflation rules the day, the organization increasingly feels the pinch and faces a not-too-distant reality of dysfunction, she said.
The council was born in the 1970s out of a unique cooperative agreement after the federal government designated more than 70 miles of the Upper Delaware River as part of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System.
That designation didn’t sit well with many private property owners in the river corridor, who went on to kill two draft river management plans by the National Park Service, citing concerns about over-regulation, the use of eminent domain, and the right to hunt and fish.
Then, a conference of local representatives from 15 towns, including the Town of Deerpark, along the river corridor created a revised plan and called for the formation of a new organization, the Upper Delaware Council (UDC) to implement it.
To Ginny Dudko, the UDC board vice president and a Sparrowbush resident, protecting private property rights is at the heart of the organization.
“We should protect the river, yes, but it is equally important to protect private property rights,” said Ms. Dudko, whose father was part of the plan negotiations. “For example, UDC is tasked to help the town to make sure that zoning is done right to protect the river but also not so restrictive that people can’t have their homes there.”
An annual UDC funding of $500,000 was agreed upon, with $300,000 from the federal government and the rest equally split between the State of Pennsylvania and New York.
Five staff members were to be retained: one project leader, two planners for conducting land use and project reviews, an office manager, and a secretary, according to the original river management plan.
However, since day one of the agreement, neither state has given a penny to UDC, leaving the organization to completely rely on federal funding, according to Ms. Ramie.
UDC used to have four staffers, but now it can afford only three: a project leader, a secretary, and a planner for project reviews based on guidelines laid out in the river management plan.
“We look at those projects to see if there would be any detrimental effect to the river resources,” she said. She called it one of the most important UDC responsibilities.
The organization also issues information brochures for tourists and funnels grants to local townships to enhance comprehensive planning and clean up the shoreline.
For example, the Town of Deerpark often receives grants to clear garbage at the beach area around the southern tip of the Upper Delaware River and the Hawk’s Nest during the summer.
Ms. Ramie said that because of the lack of staff, her organization faced challenges meeting project review deadlines and finding time for outreach and fundraising.
“Public relations, outreach of our education projects, and fundraising, those jobs have been incorporated into my duties of executive director,” she said. “That’s combining three full-time jobs into one position, which isn’t very realistic in the long term.
“If the funding remains what it is, we will likely have to be forced into eliminating another full-time position and be down to two—that would really affect our functionality,” Ms. Ramie said.
That would imperil a unique cooperative model among local and federal stakeholders in guarding a national asset while maintaining private ownership, as most such federally designated natural resources sit on public land, according to Ms. Ramie.
The organization has been asking for due funding from Pennsylvania and New York since the 1980s, and the plea continues to this day.
The Epoch Times reached out to the governors in both states for comments but received none by press time.
A New York State Department of Environment spokesperson told The Epoch Times in a statement that the agency supported ongoing conservation and restoration of the upper Delaware River and its watershed, including continued funding in projects that benefit and enhance the river and surrounding communities, and that it would review the UDC funding request.
As for the federal funding, Ms. Ramie said it remained flat at $300,000 and needed to be adjusted based on inflation to ensure the long-term functionality of the organization.
“We have a constant campaign to impress upon those funders what our situation is,” she said, adding that the organization and supporters regularly reach out to government agencies and lawmakers about its funding plea and would continue to do so.
A list of related government agencies and state and federal lawmakers representing townships in the Upper Delaware River corridor can be found on the UDC website.
