Delaware River Tidal Trail

From the Philadelphia Daily News.


Shifting the tide toward Delaware River recreation

By JASON NARK, Philadelphia Daily News Posted on Mon, Nov. 17, 2008

IN A GAME of chicken, an oil tanker always beats a kayak.

On the Delaware River, one of the region's most vital economic assets, local environmental groups are trying to turn both types of vessels in the same direction.

Doing so requires an image makeover, they say, and an admission that industry has hoarded both the river and its shoreline for more than a century, damaging its public perception.

As a result, people have forgotten about the wide, murky river when they head off to launch their boats or canoes at the Jersey Shore or in the Poconos.

"We really cut ourselves off from the river. It became a bit of an eyesore," said Patrick Starr, senior vice president of the Pennsylvania Environmental Council's southeast region. "We have a lot of repair work."

Part of that repair work, Starr said, is the creation of a 56-mile Delaware River Tidal Trail Map that details the locations of access points, amenities and historical and cultural sites from the Morrisville/Trenton area south to Marcus Hook.

Expansive, heavily detailed maps can be found at www.tidaltrail.org, a Web site that Starr hopes will spawn social networking for people to talk about the river.

"It's about a core belief of getting people down to the river through public access," he said. "It's about getting people involved with the river and into it."

The maps also feature the various public lands, or greenways, that dot the river's shoreline and could be connected someday, Starr added.

People kayak, canoe, fish and swim in the 330-mile-long Delaware all the time - but most of that takes place north of Trenton, where the river is fit for postcards and bears no resemblance to the deep, tidal stretches of its lower half.

That shallow, rocky river up north is a recreation destination precisely because it has little industrial value, environmental advocates say.

South of Trenton, the river is nothing short of an economic superhighway. Combined, the docks in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware make the river the largest freshwater port in the world that, according to a 2005 government report, brings in close to $20 billion in economic activity per year and creates hundreds of thousands of jobs.

But the river isn't just a superhighway, said Maya van Rossum, the Delaware Riverkeeper.

"It's a living, breathing ecosystem," she said.

Van Rossum said most of the important government decisions, whether they relate to dredging the river's channel or building along the waterfront, are based exclusively on economic factors.

She applauded the tidal-trail maps, saying they'll help create "champions of the river."

"People will recognize the value of the river as a natural place," she said.

The recreation business will never compete with the crude-oil and international cargo that come up the river daily, but Starr said a dollar or two could be made.

"We plan on conducting an economic-impact study soon," he said.

New business could consist of canoe or kayak outfitters, guided tours via the water, or simply add-ons at the dozens of marinas and sailing clubs that line both sides of the river and its tributaries.

"We have a beautiful river here that has natural and cultural features," he said. "You don't have to drive 75 miles to see that, you can do it here."

As for the image makeover, Starr is confident that the river isn't the trash can it may have been a half-century ago.

And while he wouldn't go so far as to recommend eating the fish (advisories warn against it), Starr is happy the fish are back in the Delaware.

"It's a lot cleaner now than it ever was," he said. "I think it's safe to go back in the water."

For more information about the Delaware River visit www.delawareriverkeeper.org, www.pecpa.org and www.delawareriver.net.