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July 7, 2000 For further information, contact Forsyth P. Kineon, program coordinator, Delaware Estuary Program, 609-883-9500 x 217; or John Kennel or Bill Brierly, DNREC Division of Water Resources, 302-739-5726 Flowing Toward the Future Committee Wins Conservation AwardThe Flowing Toward the Future Coordinating Committee received the "Delaware River Watershed Conservation Heritage Partnership Award" from the Heritage Conservancy last month. Forsyth Kineon, program coordinator for the Delaware Estuary Program, accepted the award on behalf of the Coordinating Committee. The award was presented at the annual Heritage Conservancy Donor/ Member Recognition held at the Aldie Mansion in Doylestown, Pa. The co-chairs of Flowing Toward the Future Coordinating Committee were the Delaware Estuary Program and the Heritage Conservancy. The roots of Flowing Toward the Future reach back to 1961 when the states of Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the federal government created the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC). In 1988 the Delaware Estuary was recognized as an estuary of national significance and the Delaware Estuary Program (DELEP) was established. In 1996 the Delaware Estuary Program’s three signatory states (Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania) completed a management plan for the Delaware Estuary and tidal River. The management plan targeted a number of needed actions and proposed an implementation scheme based largely on partnerships among existing agencies and organizations. In 1997-1999, the William Penn Foundation awarded a grant to the Pennsylvania-based Heritage Conservancy to provide for watershed-wide coordination, convening, and communication, as well as to provide a unified vision for the Delaware River watershed and a framework for more effective conservation. The National Park Service compiled the regional plans in the watershed in 1999. A consortium of efforts then combined DELEP's focus on the estuary and tidal river, with concentration on the upper river through the Heritage Conservancy and the National Park Service, and the basin-wide attention of DRBC. The result was Flowing Toward the Future. The Flowing Toward the Future consortium organized three events to center attention on the opportunity and need for basin-wide planning, and to help build a shared vision for the future of the Delaware River Basin: a series of ten regional workshops to gather information from citizens about their values and priorities that affect the future of the Delaware River Basin; a Flowing Toward the Future Summit to highlight basin-wide planning efforts and reaffirm the commitment of the states and key agencies; and a watershed-wide conference in November 1999 that built upon these events, helping to establish directions and models for cooperative action that will sustain the river, its tributaries, and its watersheds into the next century and beyond. (document no. 40-01/00/07/06) |
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