NPS Schedules Informational Meetings on 

Historic Properties Management Plan

Release date: January 8, 2016


Contact(s): Kristy Boscheinen, Chief, Special Projects Division
                       Kristy_Boscheinen@nps.gov; (570) 223-4335
                  Kathleen Sandt, Public Affairs Specialist
                       Kathleen_Sandt@nps.gov; (570) 426-2472; (570) 234-9144

BUSHKILL, PA- Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area Superintendent John J. Donahue announced today that the National Park Service (NPS) has scheduled a series of informational open house sessions to update the public on the development of a Historic Properties Management Plan (HPMP) for the park. The sessions are scheduled for January 28-30. “This plan will provide guidance for park employees and managers when making strategic maintenance and preservation decisions in the future,” said Donahue.  “It will be a very important and useful tool and public input will be essential.  Right now, we want to share what we’ve accomplished to get to this point and what we plan to do in the coming months.”   The HPMP will incorporate evaluations of historic significance and value to the park, physical condition, and potential future uses.

Preparing the HPMP is one of several mitigation measures intended to compensate for adverse effects to cultural resources in the park from the construction and operation of the Susquehanna-Roseland Transmission Line. In 2012, the National Park Service released the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Record of Decision (ROD) for the S-R Line Project, which included a requirement that a HPMP be prepared. Cultural resources and the associated impacts to them were identified by the NPS during the EIS planning process in collaboration with the public, other agencies and stakeholders.

Although a substantial amount of background work has already been accomplished, these open house sessions represent the beginning of the HPMP development process and are intended to share information with the public and stakeholders on:

·         Work that has already been completed in preparation for the HPMP
·         Development of a comprehensive historic structures database
·         Preliminary criteria for inclusion in the plan
·         Planning process and timeline
·         Upcoming opportunities to provide input.

There will be future opportunities to provide input as the planning process proceeds.  A formal public scoping period will begin in spring/summer 2016 when preliminary alternatives will be presented for comment and input.   

[There will be a question and answer session following a short presentation and you will be able to ask questions of park staff at various stations during the open house portion of the meetings.]


The schedule for the informational open house meetings is as follows:

January 28, 2016               6-8 pm
Sussex County Technical School
105 North Church Road
Sparta, NJ 07871

January 29, 2016               1-3 pm
East Stroudsburg University’s
Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center
562 Independence Road (Off Route 447)
East Stroudsburg, PA  18301

January 29, 2016               6-8 pm
Delaware Valley High School
256 Routes 6 and 209
Milford, PA  18337

January 30, 2016               10-12 am
NPS Bushkill Meeting Center
Route 209
Bushkill, PA  18324

For more information on Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area and this project, call park headquarters at (570) 426-2452, Monday through Friday from 8 am until 4:30 pm; visit our website atwww.nps.gov/dewa; or follow us on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/DelWaterGapNPS.

News related to the 

Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area

BUSHKILL, PA- Superintendent John J. Donahue announced that the 2016 winterization plan for Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area includes keeping several visitor use sites open and closing others. “Plowing and treating the main roads through the park is a top priority when we have snow and ice. Secondary roads, administrative buildings, and visitor use sites will be plowed after the main roads have been cleared and are safe for travel,” said Donahue.

The following locations will remain open through the winter but may not be cleared of snow and ice immediately following a storm: Blue Mountain Lakes, Smithfield Beach, Dingmans Access, Milford Beach, Point of Gap Overlook, and Millbrook Village. The McDade Recreational Trail is accessible from Smithfield Beach, Milford Beach and Dingmans Access.

Sites that are closed for winter include: Bushkill Access, Eshback Access, Hialeah Picnic Area, George W. Childs Recreation Site, Dingmans Falls Visitor Center, Poxono Boat Launch, Turtle Beach, Van Campen Inn, Watergate, Namanock, Resort Point Overlook, Raymondskill Falls, and the main parking lot and restrooms at Kittatinny Point. The sites that are closed through the winter were selected based on factors including water supply systems requiring winterization, reduced custodial staff, and other priorities for snow and ice removal.

Sites not listed will remain open but will not be cleared of snow and may not be accessible later in the season.

RECALLING NEW YEAR'S 

As published in The Evening  Gazette newspaper 

THE OLD YEAR'S BLESSING

 by 

ADELAIDE ANNE PROCTER

I AM fading from you,
But one draweth near,
Called the Angel-guardian
Of the coming year.

If my gifts and graces
Coldly you forget,
Let the New-Year's Angel
Bless and crown them yet.

For we work together;
He and I are one:
Let him end and perfect
All I leave undone.

I brought Good Desires,
Though as yet but seeds;
Let the New-Year make them
Blossom into Deeds.

I brought Joy to brighten
Many happy days;
Let the New-Year's Angel
Turn it into Praise.

If I gave you Sickness,
If I brought you Care,
Let him make one Patience,
And the other Prayer.

Where I brought you Sorrow,
Through his care, at length,
It may rise triumphant
Into future Strength.

If I brought you Plenty,
All wealth's bounteous charms,
Shall not the New Angel
Turn them into Alms?

I gave Health and Leisure,
Skill to dream and plan;
Let him make them nobler; --
Work for God and Man.

If I broke your Idols,
Showed you they were dust,
Let him turn the Knowledge
Into heavenly Trust.

If I brought Temptation,
Let sin die away
Into boundless Pity
For all hearts that stray.

If your list of Errors
Dark and long appears,
Let this new-born Monarch
Melt them into Tears.

May you hold this Angel
Dearer than the last, --
So I bless his Future,
While he crowns my Past.

DECEMBER 31, 1886

*********

A party of young people, we are informed,

intend to visit the Brick house,

N. J., New Year's night, for the purpose

of tripping the light fantastic. They

are assured of a good time if they visit

Predmore, the genial boniface of the

hotel De brick.* 

 DECEMBER 27, 1883

[Brick House, NJ was a village near the Milford Bridge, within Montague Township.]

*************************

THE WARM WEATHER AND ICE—A REMARKABLE FACT. 

The warm weather has had the effect of thawing nearly all the ice in the canal. It is also noted that the ice in most of the streams and ponds hereabout has disappeared. In the Neversink river there have been within four weeks three ice freshets and for the fourth time, within said four weeks, the river has been freed of ice. This fact is remarkable in that it was never known to have before occurred in so short a space of time. 

TUESDAY, JANUARY 4, 1876.

THE EVENING GAZETTE