The great public lands of the Eastern United States are distinguished by some of the oldest mountains on earth, covered in forests from Canada to Florida. The Appalachian Trail connects forests from Maine to Georgia. Yet very few of these exceptional and sacred places are given the highest level of protection: National Park status. On this Public Land’s Day, we should strive to create the Delaware River National Park & Lenape Preserve.
Pennsylvania, New Jersey and nearby New York deserve to have a national park as much as any place out west. Yes, we have historic sites, battlefields, monuments, and those are loved and honored, but there are no designated national parks. The 60 million people living here should not have to drive to Montana or Maine to enjoy the opportunities that come with that designation.
The wildness of the East is exemplified by the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, created specifically to provide outdoor equity for all the urban people living within a day’s drive. The proposed national park and preserve is the solution, not the problem. It is environmental justice spelled out in the Senate and House reports, more than 60 years ago, creating the park. President Johnson summarized the intent of Congress in signing the bill into law: “The Delaware Water Gap National Recreation bill authorizes the creation of a 72,000-acre national park … A full 15 percent of this Nation’s entire population will live within 100 miles of this reservation … these people of ours yearn for beauty and hunger for the opportunity to find refreshment in nature.”
We as Americans can elevate a small 9,980 acres, to national park status and the remaining 56,000 acres to be the Lenape Preserve.
There is no cost involved since these are only federally owned lands in the proposal. No other NRA…
