Pocono Record
Kanjorski pushes for Cherry Valley refuge
By David Pierce, Pocono Record Writer
March 27, 2008

Congressman Paul Kanjorski speaks Wednesday at a public meeting explaining efforts to designate Cherry Valley as a national wildlife refuge. ADAM RICHINS/Pocono Record

BARTONSVILLE - A draft feasibility study to turn parts of Cherry Valley into a federally protected wildlife refuge could be completed by September, and Congressman Paul Kanjorski, D-11, says he will propose enabling legislation by the end of the year.

"I assure you I will work in Congress to get this done," Kanjorski said during a public meeting Wednesday on the proposal before the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "We're going to create a bill. We can do it. We can get it done."

More than 60 people - preservation advocates and Cherry Valley residents - turned out for the forum held at the Monroe County Environmental Education Center.

The study area encompasses 30,000 acres predominantly in southern Monroe County, including portions of Ross, Hamilton, Stroud and Smithfield townships and Delaware Water Gap. The Fish and Wildlife Service will evaluate the presence of threatened species, rare wetlands, migratory birds, Cherry Creek life and biological diversity.

Any designated land for the national wildlife refuge would be purchased from only willing landowners. The National Park Service already owns sections in the study area, which encompasses part of the Appalachian Trail, and only a portion of the 30,000 acres is likely to be recommended for the refuge. About one-quarter of the area already is protected from development.

"We're concerned that people are going to think this is a land acquisition boundary, and it's not," Carl Melberg, the Wildlife Service's project director, said. "We try to narrow it down as much as we can to the important resources, and how do we protect it?"

The study will present several alternative actions, including no action, Melberg said. It also will include estimated acquisition and maintenance costs.

Once a draft report is completed, Fish and Wildlife will consider additional public comment before finalizing the report. Then it will be forwarded to Congress.

Kanjorski sponsored the bill that established the study after the idea was proposed by local officials and conservation groups including The Nature Conservancy. Kanjorski said the idea also received bipartisan support from Lehigh Valley Republican Congressman Charlie Dent.

Though the Fish and Wildlife Service manages millions of acres designated as refuges, not a single new refuge has been created during the Bush administration, Kanjorski noted. He expects the next president, no matter who it is, to support Cherry Valley's designation.

"We had to start this study now so we're prepared to get it done with the next president," Kanjorski said.

If the refuge fails to win approval from Congress, Fish and Wildlife could create a refuge on its own and seek to acquire land through the agency's annual budget.

"I think it's very important that we preserve this valley," said Stroud Township Supervisor Ed Cramer, who serves on a study team for the refuge.

Karen Woodson of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy said a refuge would enhance the protections already in place for the trail.

"The tread-way itself is protected, but that doesn't protect the Appalachian Trail experience," she said. "You guys are out front. You are really visionaries."

The idea also was endorsed by Jim Reinhardt of the Pocono Environmental Education Center and Mathilda Sheptak of the Pocono Mountains Visitors Bureau.

Residents asked questions about everything from the land acquisition process to the availability of sufficient agency personnel to keep the public from trespassing on private property that might abut refuge property.

Walt Quist of Fish and Wildlife said his agency is still acquiring land for refuges approved in the 1980s, but his agency has a good track record of managing those sites.

"It's a long process," he said. "If it does not suit the landowner, we both can walk away. We hope we aren't the only agency that purchases land" for preservation.