Businesses and Community Members Join Forces to Launch the ‘Pledge to Defend Our Pocono Waters’ Campaign
By Emily Rinaldi Baldauff, Campaigns Director, PennFuture
Pennsylvania’s outdoor spaces are vitally important. The COVID-19 crisis and resulting economic shutdown are making us appreciate the clean waterways of the Pocono Mountains region like never before. The Pocono region contains streams and creeks that are part of the Delaware River Watershed, and downstream communities rely on this clean water for drinking, washing, and farming.
To seize upon this uniquely important and challenging time, Our Pocono Waters this summer launched a new pledge campaign. The Pledge to Defend Our Pocono Waters campaign highlights the importance of high-quality streams — for the health of our residents, the social fabric of our communities and the economic vitality of our small businesses and commercial corridors — while demonstrating the broad base of existing support for clean water protections.
Led by a partnership of businesses, clean water advocates and outdoor recreation enthusiasts, the new campaign aims to ensure local leaders recognize the importance of Exceptional Value streams during this time of economic recovery. Partners who have stepped up to pledge to defend the region’s waterways include outfitters, breweries and other small business leaders, as well as fishing, conservation and environmental groups.
Some of our partners are featured in a series of new ads you may have seen air on WNEP and Facebook.
The campaign comes as recreation areas across Pennsylvania are experiencing unprecedented number of visitors. State park visits jumped 36 percent at the onset of the COVID-19 crisis. Attendance has doubled at parks closest to Pennsylvania’s larger cities.
If you are among those who value clean waters and outdoor recreation now more than ever, please consider joining the pledge campaign. Pledge to defend stream protections. Then share how you and your family enjoy the clean waters of the Pocono Mountains region. Pledge to defend Our Pocono Waters.
While only 2% of Pennsylvania streams are Exceptional Value — the classification granted to the cleanest streams with highest quality of water — 80% are located in the Poconos Mountain region, primarily within Monroe, Pike and Wayne counties. These include many headwaters to the upper and middle sections of the Delaware River. Exceptional Value streams support some of the country’s premiere wild trout populations, offering recreational benefits, natural beauty and other important ecosystem services.
Outdoor recreation and other tourism activities continue to drive the economy of the Pocono Mountains region. Exceptional Value streams are at the heart of what makes the region such a tourism destination.
The Our Pocono Waters campaign has previously called on local officials to publicly support the ability for the PA Department of Environmental Protection and Environmental Quality Board to safeguard Pocono streams through appropriate Exceptional Value designations. The 2018 campaign collected more than 3,300 petition signatures from across the Poconos community.
This time around, Our Pocono Waters is featuring voices of the community who most stand to benefit from continued Exceptional Value protections. Watch some of the videos we received so far.
If you value the exceptional streams of the Poconos Mountain region, please take a moment to sign the pledge and share your story of why clean streams matter and deserve to be protected. Visit OurPoconoWaters.org.