A significant increase in visitors has National Park Service staff contemplating some significant changes in how they manage Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, ranging from a plan to add more campsites for river users to charging a park-wide entrance fee as opposed to site-specific fees.

The draft management plan, open for public comment through December 6, has been in the works for four years. Along with recognizing the great increase in visitors for the NRA and its adjacent Middle Delaware National Scenic and Recreation River that straddle the New Jersey-Pennsylvania border -- from roughly 1.75 million-2.5 million in 1987 to 3.5 million-5 million currently --, the Park Service staff noted the damage such use and vandalism has been exacting on landscapes, historic sites, and archaeological resources. And the document notes the decline in the condition of historic structures due, in part, to insufficient funding to maintain them.

"Many of the visitor use issues stem from the growing popularity of the park, the increased demand from nearby urban areas, and the changing needs of park visitors. Some of these issues include the desire for visitors to access the water and associated recreation opportunities in spite of growing crowds, a lack of facilities commensurate with visitor needs and usage, and visitors recreating in areas that may be unauthorized, such as creating their own river campsites and recreational use sites," reads a section of the document. "The park has also experienced increasing numbers of large groups visiting the park in areas currently not designed to accommodate this use, especially in areas with sensitive resources. This disparity between use types and facility design leads to a variety of issues including but not limited to visitor displacement and crowding, resource impacts, and visitor conflicts."

The Water Gap NRA is a nearly 70,000-acre unit of the National Park System, with park lands almost equally divided between the two states along and including the 40-mile-long Middle Delaware National Scenic and Recreational River, which is the boundary between the two states. The park is among the top 20 most-visited units of the national park system with an average of 3.8 million visitors annually, and is one of the largest parks in terms of infrastructure responsibilities. It is less than a two-hour drive from both New York City and Philadelphia.

The nearly 150-page draft document points out that the park "contains a notable concentration of cultural resources spanning more than 12,000 years of human habitation. Historic structures, villages, and landscapes are found throughout Delaware Water Gap NRA, many of which are visible from the park’s trails and scenic drives. Additionally, the park encompasses substantial American Indian archaeological sites."

The growing popularity of the park has led to both visible crowding and complaints from visitors, who voice concerns with "the presence of large groups, trash, or other visitors engaging in activities that the reporting visitor believes detracts from their own experience."

Trampled and eroded vegetation and soils have been noticed at many sites in the NRA, including Adams Creek, Raymondskill Falls, Van Campens Glen, Dingmans Falls, Caddoo, Namanock Recreation Site, Freeman Tract, Hidden Lake, and the Blue Mountain Lakes area.

"As use of the trails has increased, park staff has observed an increase in visitor-created trails and visitor-created trail modifications throughout the park. Visitors seeking access to drainages, lakes, waterfalls, vistas, and other sites of interest often have created their own trails, in the process eroding soils and damaging vegetation," the document notes. "Soil erosion is clearly evident on certain trails, particularly those with steep grades, which in turn damages plants growing along the trails and inhibits the restoration of vegetation. Visitor-created trails, such as near waterfalls, have resulted in soil compaction and increased erosion (which can adversely affect vegetation), and vegetation damage, and loss."

At the highly popular Dingmans Falls area, for example, visitors have created "an extensive web of ... trails ... above the falls area leading to the Doodle Hollow section of the stream (on both sides of the stream) and beyond to Childs Park. Vegetation has been lost and damaged due to trampling above the falls, and a high level of erosion has occurred in this area."

To address some of these issues, the Park Service is considering:

* Restoration of "up to 20 river campsites in clustered groupings, utilizing creative solutions to human waste management and incorporating ease of access for maintenance;"

* Implementing a $16/night fee and reservation system for river camping;

* Adding an unspecified number of campsites, including bike-in sites, outside of the river corridor "to help satisfy demand (and) prevent conflicts from non-river campers using river camping sites;"

* Instituting park-wide entrance fees ranging from a $25 vehicle pass for seven days to a $45 annual pass to the park. If the fee proposal is adopted, entrance stations might be reopened on U.S. 209 that passes through the NRA.

Along with the increased visitation has been increased damage to the NRA's cutltural resources. "These resources are vulnerable to illegal activities by individuals who target unmonitored archaeological resources and historic structures and by the actions of visitors unaware of the permanent damage caused by unauthorized activities," the draft management plan stated.

Additionally, "(M)ost of the park’s 611 historic structures are in fair to poor condition. In some cases, these conditions have been exacerbated by human-caused damage. Currently, park staffing and funding constraints limit the number of historic structures that can be monitored and maintained for historic uses. Consequently, many historic structures remain unoccupied, making them vulnerable to damage. Damage to historic structures and cultural landscapes includes theft, the removal of historic materials, and/or character-defining features of National Register-listed or potentially eligible resources."

"The current levels of vandalism involve illegal activities such as unauthorized access, graffiti, broken doors and windows, and other forms of damage to buildings, structures, and associated cultural landscape features," the passage continues. "Examples of theft include the removal of copper pipes, rock walls, stones, and other historic architectural features. Damage also consists of both intentionally and unintentionally set fires (including 2 documented arsons in the last 10 years) to historic structures throughout the park."

Two public meetings have been scheduled for discussion of the draft management plan:

Bushkill, Pennsylvania

* Thursday, October 24

* 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

* Bushkill Volunteer FireCompany, Station 24

* 124 Evergreen Drive

* Bushkill, PA 18324

Sparta, New Jersey

* Saturday, October 26

* 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

* Sussex County Technical School Auditorium

* 105 North Church Road

* Sparta, NJ 07871