From new river access points in Honesdale and Lackawaxen Township to a shelved proposal for a Wild and Scenic River designation, the Lackawaxen River has seen its fair share of activity over the past few months and years. 

The River Reporter set out to talk with elected officials, conservationists and other people who care about the Lackawaxen River to better understand how all these different initiatives connect and conflict. Here is what we found. 

NORTHEAST PENNSYLVANIA — Keeping the Lackawaxen River available as a natural resource for the Wayne-Pike area requires more than the work being done to open it up for public access. It requires work and oversight to preserve the quality of its water and its surrounding lands. 

The Lackawaxen River has its fair share of stewards watching out for that aspect of the river’s existence. 

One such steward is the Lackawaxen River Conservancy (LRC), an organization that bills itself as “a cohesive group of local residents who have joined together and are committed to a common purpose,” according to the “About” page on its website. 

Founded in 2001, the conservancy’s goals include promoting awareness of the importance of the Lackawaxen River’s natural environment; encouraging enlightened stewardship of the natural environment throughout the Lackawaxen River watershed; and partnering actively with other local and regional bodies on issues that affect the watershed. 

The original group who founded LRC came together out of concern for dumping taking place along the river, according to LRC President Renee Winslow. While the organization went through a bit of a lull period, Winslow says, she has tried to boost the conservancy’s level of activity since joining. 

The LRC does several clean-ups each year, including at Lock House 31 and along the D&H Canal towpath. The organization also participates in local events, including setting up an interactive display at the Zane Grey Festival to spread knowledge about the Lackawaxen River. 

“All throughout the year we’re doing something,” says Winslow. 

Partnership proposals

In addition to hands-on activities, the LRC has broader aims for ensuring the river stays clean. 

One aspect the LRC has explored is the possibility of adding the Lackawaxen River to the National Park Service (NPS) Wild and Scenic Rivers (WSR) partnership program. 

The National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, created by the U.S. Congress in 1968, preserves rivers with “outstanding natural, cultural and recreational values in a free-flowing condition,” according to a NPS primer. 

The LRC, with long-time member Christine Foland leading the charge, explored adding the river to the WSR partnership program. Were that to come to be, a study committee made up of Lackawaxen River locals would create a River Management Plan, a planning document that lists ways to protect and manage the river. A planning committee would then be established to implement the River Management Plan. 

Foland said that the designation would involve technical assistance from the NPS and protection from federal and local projects that could adversely affect the river. The designation could also make it easier to get grant funding for projects taking place along the river.

“Above all, it is a cooperative venture which is in local hands,” said Foland. 

However, when the LRC sought local hands with which they could co-operate in the venture, it found them to be in short supply. Area residents and elected officials came out in vocal opposition to the plan, leading the LRC to shelve it early in 2025. 

People had procedural concerns about the proposal, saying the LRC should have come to township elected officials and should have held public hearings as a first step to gauge interest. 

Lackawaxen Township Supervisor Mike Mancino said that the proper process would be to approach all the townships along the river, speak to their supervisors, hold town hall meetings and explain the proposal to the public. 

Mancino said as well that he didn’t understand why the LRC sought the WSR designation. 

If the LRC wanted to add the Lackawaxen River to the WSR program because having that designation would be a “feather in their cap,” a mark of prestige for the river, that didn’t seem to be a good reason, he said. 

If there was a specific deficiency found in the river that needed to be corrected—impacts to the river’s wildlife, harmful chemicals being found in the water—the LRC should raise awareness of the problem first, he said. 

Testing the waters

Currently, water testing in the Pike County portion of the Lackawaxen River is conducted by the Pike County Conservation District (PCCD). 

PCCD runs a surface water monitoring program throughout Pike County, with 20 to 30 monitoring points in the county’s rivers and other water bodies, according to Rachel Marques, PCCD Watershed Specialist. Two of those monitoring points are on the Lackawaxen River. 

PCCD examines the chemical parameters of the water it tests, such as their oxygen levels and the amount of dissolved ions and salts contained therein, as well as the status of the river’s animal life, from micro-invertebrates such as stream insects to fish species present in the water. 

Based on the PCCD’s data, the Lackawaxen River seems to be maintaining a high quality standard, Marques says. However, she adds, there are always risks to that quality, as there are in any environmental field—that’s why the PCCD keeps monitoring. 

Mancino said that, if the LRC wanted a healthy Lackawaxen River, the township and the LRC could potentially apply for grants to broaden PCCD’s testing on the river, adding monitoring sites beyond the two that already exist. 

Winslow agrees that the current number of testing sites is a concern for the LRC. With only two spots, “there’s a lot of loopholes right there, and that’s a threat” to the river, she says. 

The LRC had the PCCD give a presentation on the PCCD’s water monitoring program at the LRC’s annual dinner, says Winslow. “There were so many questions at that dinner and at that presentation” from LRC members.

Winslow says the LRC, in its infancy, got a grant and testing materials for the river, and it could do so again. However, the LRC needs involvement from Lackawaxen River residents to be active as an organization, she says. 

“The biggest threat is inactivity of people being engaged and included,” says Winslow. 

Not everyone agrees that engaged involvement of a conservation-minded body—whether that be the LRC or the NPS—would be a positive thing from the river. Some are more concerned about the potential restrictions that could come from such oversight. 

“I don’t want the feds here,” one resident, who declined to give her name, told the River Reporter, speaking about the WSR proposal after a public meeting at which it was heard. If the Lackawaxen River gets designated, it would go to the NPS and to the Bureau of Land Management, she claimed. “And then you have no control on [your] own property.”

Lackawaxen Township doesn’t need federal oversight on the river to solve the river’s problems, Mancino says. If there is a problem, the township will work with PCCD, the Pennsylvania Department of Protection and other PA agencies to identify what the problem is. Then, the township will work with its state and federal representation to get the resources needed to fix it. 

Mancino described himself as “center-right, personally and politically.” He said that while he’s friends with members of “left-leaning” organizations like LRC—and was a member himself for a while—there’s a certain fraction of those organizations that feel like they know what’s best for other people. 

“Which, in this area, doesn’t fly,” he says—people want to feel included and to be able to give their opinions on things. 

For her part, Winslow says that some people who live along the Lackawaxen River think of it as their backyard. “It’s frankly a little ignorant, because it’s a river,” she says. “Maybe it’s my politics, [but] no one can own a river. That beauty is there for all to see.”

Winslow says that she looked at the “uproar” around the WSR proposal as a positive—“People are looking at the Lackawaxen River again.” If people care about the health of the river, why not get involved in the conservation’s work, she asks?

In addition, the private landowners along the river have their own incentives to ensure the river remains healthy. 

“We have a lot of landowners who are kind of naturalists in their own way,” says Marques. 

“I think residential ownership along the river does provide some protection,” says Mancino. “People who live along the river want to make sure the river is healthy.”

Stay tuned for future installments of thie series in upcoming editions of the River Reporter.  This is the third installment so far; click here for the first installment and click here for the second installment. 

Want to add your voice to this story? Reach out to liam@riverreporter.com or to 845-252-7414, ext. 128.