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by David Hawk
The White Clay Watershed Association is participating in an ongoing study which may eventually lead to White Clay Creek being declared a part of theUnited State's Wild & Scenic River System. The study task force is being co-chaired by WCWA members Dorthy Miller (for Delaware) and Judy Shuler (for Pennsylvania). Chuck Barscz of the National Park Service (Philadelphia office) is serving as facilitator. All government entities which have jurisdiction in the watershed from the federal government to the townships are cooperating in the study. The task force working on the study consists of representatives from these government entities, representatives of interested organizations, landowners, and citizens.
The Wild and Scenic River program was established by Congress twenty-six years ago to encourage cooperation between state, local, and federal agencies, non-government organizations and private citizens to protect rivers in a way that is sensitive to the needs and concerns of local people. Presently, 140 rivers have been designated under the program in 33 states. Chuck Barscz, of the National Park Service in Philadelphia and coordinator of the study, has described the program as a "Hall of Fame" for rivers.
The White Clay Creek study was authorized by an act of Congress in 1991 after many decades of work by the White Clay Watershed Association.
The White Clay Creek study is unique in the Wild and Scenic River program in that the study includes not just the river and its immediate riparian zones but also the entire watershed. The study encompasses cultural resources, geology, fish and wildlife, vegetation, land use and recreation within this watershed.
There are two components of the study: an Eligibility Determination and a Management Plan. The Park Service is responsible for evaluating the White Clay against pre-established criteria to establish the eligibility for the White Clay to be designated as a Wild & Scenic River. The task force is charged with soliciting and identifying issues and concerns from citizens and local government officials in the watershed and then developing a Management Plan to address these issues.
Under the Wild & Scenic River program, either entire rivers or just portions of rivers may be designated as either "wild", "scenic" or "recreational" depending upon their relative levels of development. The draft Eligibility Report done by the National Park Service in Philadelphia has found most of the creek and tributaries meet either the "scenic" or "recreational" criteria. Not too surprisingly for an east coast river, none of it meets the criteria for being "wild" since this would have meant almost no development in the area at all. Only a small section at Churchman's Marsh was deemed ineligible to be included since I-95 goes right through the middle of it and because of the presence of a nearby superfund site.
The actual designation of the river will require a special act of Congress and is still a few years away. Such a designation directly protects the river with restrictions on government projects in the area but does not bring into effect any regulations which apply to ordinary citizens and landowners.
Most of the protection for the river comes from the Management Plan which is formulated cooperatively by the local governments and the citizen's task force as part of the study. The management plan is not something that is imposed by the federal government, but is instead developed by the task force in cooperation with the local governments which then are responsible for adopting and implementing it. The Designation Act by Congress will also oblige federal government agencies to honor provisions of the locally developed Management Plan on federal projects and programs in the area.
The National Park Service has played the role of facilitator in this study by bringing the various groups together, but will not be playing any long term role in the watershed as a result of either the Designation or the Management Plan. Over the long term it will be up to local governments, citizens, and private organizations to work together protect the creek by implementing provisions of the Management Plan.
The National Wild & Scenic Rivers program is proving to be a good catalyst for promoting responsible stewardship at the local level. A landowner survey carried out this year has shown strong support for the project: 89% of the survey respondents indicated that they would support land use regulations aimed at protecting the watershed environment; 93% oppose aggressive development in the watershed although 55% did not want to prohibit further development altogether. Most did not want government alone to have major responsibility for conservation; most of respondents instead preferred some combination of public and private organizations and landowners and citizens taking that responsibility.
The National Park Service has prepared a list of commonly asked questions & answers about the Wild & Scenic program.
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