Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, Visitor Use and Experiences at the Park, and Regional Socioeconomic Context
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National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area New Jersey • Pennsylvania Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area Estimated Lead Agency Total Costs Associated with Developing and Producing This Plan: $236,000 Visitor Use Management Plan November 2020 August 3, 2020 Park Community, Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area and Middle Delaware National Scenic and Recreational River are special places. From 12,000 years ago when humans first inhabited the area to the future generations who will spend time within the park, people have lived in, worked on, traveled through, recreated within and experienced the beauty of the land and the river at its heart. The Visitor Use Management Plan continues with this progression of providing diverse opportunities while protecting the park’s significant natural and cultural resources. This plan has been heavily influenced by your voices and has changed based on your input, thoughts, concerns, and ideas. This is your national park. The park will use this plan as a guide in future decision making, relying on the science, data, and the strong community voice reflected in this plan to ensure this park remains an important haven. Thank you for your interest in the park, this plan, and the National Park Service. Sula Jacobs Superintendent iii This page intentionally blank. iv EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area is a nearly 70,000-acre unit of the national park system located in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Park lands are almost equally divided between the two states along the 40-mile-long Middle Delaware National Scenic and Recreational River, which is the boundary between the two states. The park is among the top 20 most-visited units of the national park system with an average of approximately 3.8 million visitors annually and is one of the largest parks in terms of infrastructure responsibilities. It is less than a 2-hour drive from New York City and from Philadelphia. Over the last 10 years, the park has received between 3.5 and 5 million visitors per year. This is about twice as many visitors per year as in 1987 when the General Management Plan (GMP) was completed. Given these changes, updated guidance for providing visitor opportunities and protecting resources is needed. The planning process creates an opportunity for the park to take a comprehensive look at managing visitor use on a parkwide level. It provides an opportunity for the National Park Service (NPS) to assess the current and new/evolving visitor experiences while considering visitor safety, visitor experiences, and resource protection. It also provides specific and up-to-date direction on visitor management and strategies for resource protection within the context of today’s visitor use patterns and resource conditions. The visitor opportunities and related issues at the park are varied given the wide range of recreation activities, resource types, and visitor populations. One of the main reasons to visit the park is to recreate in, on, or near water in a beautiful and relatively undeveloped natural setting. The park offers a wide diversity of outstanding water- and land-based recreation activities, along with educational programming. It is a great place for many to beat the heat and enjoy unique natural and cultural resources with their family and friends, within a short drive from their homes. Many of the visitor use issues stem from the growing popularity of the park, the increased demand from nearby urban areas, and the changing needs of park visitors. Some of these issues include the desire for visitors to access the water and associated recreation activities in spite of growing crowds, a lack of facilities commensurate with visitor needs and usage, and visitors recreating in areas that may be unauthorized, such as creating their own river campsites and recreational use sites. The park has also experienced increasing numbers of large groups visiting the park in areas currently not designed to accommodate this use, especially in areas with sensitive resources. This disparity between use types and facility design leads to a variety of issues including but not limited to visitor displacement and crowding, resource impacts, and visitor conflicts. The purpose of the plan is to maximize the ability of the National Park Service to encourage access, improve visitor experiences, and protect the natural and cultural resources of Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area and the Middle Delaware National Scenic and Recreational River (the park). This planning process examines current and potential visitor activities and services and develops long-term strategies for providing access, connecting visitors to important experiences, and managing visitor use. Many of the park’s planning and management documents do not reflect current visitor use patterns and needs, so this plan provides updated guidance for addressing current and future visitor use opportunities, management techniques, and resource protection concerns. v This page intentionally blank. vi CONTENTS Executive Summary .................................................................................................................................. iii Chapter 1. Introduction to the Plan ........................................................................................................ 1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 1 Why is This Plan Needed? .................................................................................................................... 2 Planning Background ........................................................................................................................... 3 Relationship to Other Planning Efforts .............................................................................................. 3 The Planning Process ........................................................................................................................... 5 Chapter 2. Existing Conditions Summary and Related Issues ............................................................. 9 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 9 Background Information ...................................................................................................................... 9 Park Description ............................................................................................................................... 9 Regional Recreation and Socioeconomic Context ........................................................................... 13 Overview of Visitor Use at Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area ..................................... 14 Condition Summaries and Issues Addressed in This Plan .................................................................... 15 Visitor Use and Experience ............................................................................................................. 16 Visitor-Caused Damage to Vegetation ........................................................................................... 23 Visitor-Caused Damage to Archeological Resources, Historic Structures, Districts, and Cultural Landscapes ..................................................................................................................................... 26 Noise .............................................................................................................................................. 27 Chapter 3. General Visitor Use Management Direction .................................................................... 31 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 31 Desired Conditions ............................................................................................................................ 31 Goals and Desired Conditions for Fundamental Resources and Values ........................................... 31 Zoning ............................................................................................................................................... 34 Site-Specific Changes to Zoning ..................................................................................................... 37 Goals and Desired Conditions for Zones ......................................................................................... 39 Indicators and Thresholds .................................................................................................................. 48 Criteria for Evaluating New and Emerging Uses ................................................................................. 50 Necessary and Appropriate Criteria and Determinations for Commercial Services .............................. 50 Overview of NPS Commercial Services ............................................................................................... 50 Necessary and Appropriate Criteria ................................................................................................ 51 Evaluation of Commercial Services/Visitor Services Opportunities ................................................... 52 Existing Commercial Services .........................................................................................................