NARROWSBURG – Rooted in the desire to retain local control over the Upper Delaware River Valley’s land use while securing federal protection for the treasured New York-Pennsylvania border river, the Upper Delaware Council is marking 20 years of service in 2008.

A year-long commemoration is being coordinated in conjunction with activities to mark the 30th anniversary of the Congressional designation of the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River as a unit of the National Parks System and the 40th anniversary of the passage of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.

The Upper Delaware Council evolved from a nucleus of concerned river valley residents and the many grassroots organizations which formed in response to federal overtures made in the 1960’s to stake a presence in the Upper Delaware region.

The first legislation which sparked the Council’s origins came on October 2, 1968 - the date on which the Upper Delaware River was classified for study under the Federal Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.

Evaluation by the Federal Bureau of Outdoor Recreation officially lasted for seven years, ultimately resulting in Congress designating a 73.4-mile stretch of the Upper Delaware from Hancock, NY to Mill Rift, PA as the 19th component of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System on November 10, 1978. The U.S. Department of the Interior, through the National Park Service, arrived to begin interim administration of the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River.