On September 13, 2020, the Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed, New Jersey Audubon, and Congressman Andy Kim (NJ-03) gathered in Brendan Byrne State Forest to celebrate a new grant from the Delaware Watershed Conservation Fund, which was created from federal appropriations for the Delaware River Basin Restoration Program. A total of $94,823 was received by New Jersey Audubon and with their matching funds of $95,179, about $190,000 will be leveraged to restore and manage the dwindling Atlantic white-cedar population in Burlington, Ocean, Cumberland, Salem, Atlantic, and Gloucester County.

Over the past year the Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed (CDRW) has seen major legislative wins both on the state and federal level. Most recently, we saw the Great American Outdoors Act signed into law in early August. We had another big federal win with the Delaware River Basin Restoration Program receiving $9.7 million in funding as a part of the 2020 Interior Appropriations bill. On the state level Delaware’s budget included $23 million dollars for clean water and conservation, even with the financial challenges presented by COVID-19.

If you want the best things for your family, community, environment, and future, you should vote in every election. When you vote, you are vocalizing what you need, want, and believe in. You are standing up and demanding to be counted. That’s why we’re encouraging our 150+ member organizations to become advocates for voting in their respective states.

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.

July 2020 marks Disability Awareness Month and celebrates the 30th anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. People with disabilities make up 26% of the American population, and approximately half of those with disabilities have mobility impairments. As environmentalists, many of us have first-hand experience with the joy that being in nature can bring to our lives. For people with mobility impairments and other disabilities, navigating outdoor recreation can be challenging. But there are steps that outdoor recreation and environmental organizations can take to have their programs and activities be more accessible for all.

In a big win for conservation and bi-partisanship collaboration, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Great American Outdoors Act (310 to 107) on July 22, 2020. The Great American Outdoors Act will permanently fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund at $900 million a year and provide $9.5 billion over five years to repair aged infrastructure at national parks, forests, wildlife refuges, and recreation areas. These dollars will benefit outdoor areas in the Delaware River Watershed (New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware) through Land and Water Conservation Fund programs. The Senate passed the Great American Outdoors Act by 73 to 25 on June 17th. It now heads to the President Trump who is expected to sign the bill into law.

Months of uncertainty made securing clean water funding particularly challenging, but Delaware’s water advocates are happy to be celebrating important wins thanks to their persistent and resilient advocacy! 2020 began like no year experienced recently – not only because of a novel disease spreading on the other side of the world, but because for the first time in Delaware’s recent history our Governor and General Assembly leadership united in support of dedicated and sustainable clean water funding, proposing a $50 million investment in clean water in January. For over five years, DelNature, Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed members, and water advocates throughout Delaware have been advocating for legislation to do just that.

It’s no secret that COVID-19 quarantine orders led to a dip in emissions, giving Mother Nature a little break and a sigh of a relief. However, the pandemic also pushed aside single-use plastic phase-out efforts. Several locations, including Philadelphia and New York State, hit the pause button on enforcing plastic bag bans, and some states, including Maine and New Hampshire reversed plastic bag bans. Some cities across the country have also paused or slowed recycling pickup and programs.