The proposed expanded fishing access: Reinventing Long Eddy

Posted 8/21/12

Local residents and officials in Sullivan County have long complained about property being taken off the tax rolls, regardless of the reason, because when it happens it often makes the job of …

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The proposed expanded fishing access: Reinventing Long Eddy

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Local residents and officials in Sullivan County have long complained about property being taken off the tax rolls, regardless of the reason, because when it happens it often makes the job of balancing the town’s books just a little more difficult. So it’s understandable that the supervisor of the Town of Fremont, George Conklin, and other officials are not particularly pleased that a half-acre parcel of riverfront property may ultimately be taken off the tax rolls as part of a plan to expand the public river access in Long Eddy.

Further, we take Conklin at his word that the two hotels in the town don’t benefit much from the fishing industry that has grown up in the region, and that customers who frequent the gun shop in the town aren’t clamoring for the owner to stock fly-fishing gear.

But others in the region are clearly benefiting from the fishing and outdoor sports tourism trends in the region. A study of the communities surrounding the East Branch, the West Branch and the main stem of the Upper Delaware River north of Callicoon, prepared by Shepstone Management Company, showed that fishing is the single most important source of customers for businesses in the region.

According to the study, businesses were asked “How much of your customer base is related to each of the following activities, in your estimation? That is to say, how many of your customers do you estimate come to the area for these activities and, in the course of their visits, visit your business or use your services, regardless [of whether] the services you provide directly relate to these activities?”

Fishing scored the highest with 25%; boating/rafting scored 19%; hunting/trapping scored 9%; and bird-watching scored 3%. (Go to www.shepstone.net/FishingStudyPresentation.pdf for the full study.)

The study further says that the current fishing and boating industry brings $305 million yearly into the study area. So, although fishing may not currently bring much of an economic boost to the Town of Fremont, the creation of an expanded public fishing access area could easily be seen as an economic opportunity.

Perhaps a yearly event could be created that would specifically draw fishing enthusiasts to Long Eddy in the same way that the opening of trout season every year draws many people to Junction Pool in Roscoe and to the Two-Headed Trout Dinner; the idea would not be for Long Eddy to compete with Roscoe, but to create something that would enhance the overall region as a fishing destination. There are certainly enough differences between fishing in waders in the Beaverkill and fishing from a drift boat in the Upper Delaware to accommodate both places, and others, as fishing destinations.

Moreover, if the elected officials or others in the Town of Fremont decided to create some energy around the expanded fishing access area, there would likely be people who would be willing to participate. There are already many fishing guides who use the Long Eddy access, especially in the spring, because of the “world-class” wild trout experiences.

Also, groups such as Friends of the Upper Delaware and individuals such as Peter Kolesar and Jim Serio have made significant progress over the past decade working with the New York City Department of Protection and the Delaware River Basin Commission to alter the releases from the New York City reservoirs to make the cold-water fishery even more attractive as a fishing destination. There are many people in the region who love the river.

Certainly the nature of tourism in the Upper Delaware Valley has changed significantly over the past 40 or 50 years. The days when the numbers of summer visitors coming to the region were sufficient to support a small airstrip in Narrowsburg are long gone.

But there are new opportunities to be explored.

We applaud the Delaware Highlands Conservancy, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the Sullivan County Division of Planning and Environmental Management for working toward the expansion of the river access in Long Eddy. We are confident that the people who live in Long Eddy and the Town of Fremont will find a way to take full advantage of the new facility, if it becomes a reality, in a way that more than makes up for any loss of tax revenue.

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