A series of informational open house sessions has been scheduled at Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area in New Jersey and Pennsylvania to update the public on the development of a Historic Properties Management Plan 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 Superintendent John 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 and Record of Decision 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.

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