Rancocas Creek to get national designation?

HAINESPORT - No matter what the season or the temperature, John Anderson likely will be paddling somewhere in the meandering and often hidden stretches of Rancocas Creek in Burlington County.

Once navigable for commerce and lined with factories and timber operations, most of the creek's upper stretches today are home to only canoers and kayakers.

Conservationist Anderson loves the solitude and scenic beauty of the creek and is intimately familiar with its three branches as they flow through towns, farms, forests, parkland and historic sites from the headwaters in the New Jersey Pinelands to the Delaware River, where wider stretches closer to the creek's mouth can accommodate power boats.

Pinelands road plan still in the works

His interest has been the impetus for a grass-roots movement seeking designation of the creek as a national water trail by the U.S. Department of the Interior.

"I think it is high time, frankly, that the neglected heritage of the creek should be recognized and embraced by the public. We have always just taken it for granted," Anderson said before donning a four-layer wetsuit and launching his red kayak from a  boat ramp in Hainesport on a 50-degree, overcast Thursday.

"There's a lot of history, species and beautiful landscape, and it does not cost anything to hike along it or to paddle or canoe in it."

While canoeing that day on the 28-mile north branch, his favorite of the three, 53-year-old Anderson spotted a Coopers hawk in a tree. A red-tailed hawk swooped by.  Some days he sees endangered bald eagles fly by as well. Anderson, employed in maritime affairs, has been paddling the creek since he was a teenager.

A steering committee formed by Anderson, of Westampton, has filed an initial application with the Interior Department through the National Park Service, although the process could take until the end of the year. The committee formed the nonprofit Rancocas Pathways for that application.

Anderson, steering committee members and other supporters said a national designation would give the creek more public exposure for both recreation and education and also would promote tourism.

Other benefits to the national designation would be an identifying logo and opportunities to obtain technical assistance and funding for planning and implementing water trail projects.

The park service's office for national water trails did not respond to a request for comment.

Burlington County already has established a greenway along much of the creek through open-space acquisitions.

The steering committee held one of several public information forums for community input Friday at Rancocas Nature Center in Westampton.

The forums are one of the application requirements. Other criteria include planning, public information, community support and trail maintenance to keep the creek navigable from obstructions such as fallen trees, tires and beaver dams.

Randi Rothmel, Mount Holly Environmental Advisory Committee chairwoman,  told those at the Friday forum that an informal group has formed there to try to clear out blockages in the creek.

"I think a national designation would be beneficial and would complement what we are trying to do locally, but trying to get everyone to sign on to the application may be challenging," said Rothmel, one of 16 paddlers, environmentalists and creekside residents at the forum who came to support it or find out more about it.

In a related creek development, the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission will discuss its findings for enhanced public access to the Rancocas in Mount Holly at a public meeting March 1 at 7 p.m. in the township municipal building, 23 Washington St.

At the Friday forum, Anderson gave an update on the application and outlined points of interest and access along the waterway. The Rancocas has the largest watershed in New Jersey — more than 350 square miles.

"The state park service has endorsed the application, but Burlington County has some questions about creek maintenance, liability and other issues," Anderson said.

Susan Buffalino, nature center director, said she believes the creek's nomination as a national water trail has no negatives and would bring more attention to it, as well as a "nice boost for tourism."

"If it goes through, we would be … the first in New Jersey," she said.

A model resolution of endorsement has been drafted and will be submitted to dozens of municipalities along the creek for nomination support, she said.

"While municipal endorsements are not a prerequisite, they would make the application look stronger and it won't cost them any money," Buffalino said.

The creek has public ramp access in Pemberton Township, Mount Holly, Hainesport, Medford and Delran. Historical sites along the way include Timbuctoo in Westampton, Mount Holly, the former Henry Rowan estate, Rancocas State Park, the nature center and Smithville Mansion in the partially restored Smithville industrial village in Eastampton.

County parks Superintendent John Smith Jr. said it would be an honor to have the national designation for the creek and to bring attention to the county and a beautiful stretch of water that  allows users to "almost go back in time in places."

However, he said the county is not clear on what obligations may come along with it.

The county maintains a 14.5-mile canoe trail downstream from Rowan College at Burlington County in Pemberton Township. "We take care of the canoe trail, and it is a lot of work," Smith said.

There are two national water trails in the Northeast — the Bronx River Blueway and the Hudson River Greenway.

South Jersey has several rivers in a category designated "wild and scenic." They are the Delaware River along the state's western border with Pennsylvania, the Maurice, the Great Egg Harbor and the Musconetcong.

In a letter to the steering committee, National Park Service staff said they will visit the creek once the application is further along.

“This is such an unheralded resource just miles outside of Philadelphia. It's gorgeous, has diverse ecology from wild rice to bald eagles flying by my house almost every day to the fish population and a winding oxbow through downtown Mount Holly," said MIchael Castagner, a retired Dow Chemical biologist and steering committee member who lives on the creek in Willingboro.

"It is the crown jewel of rivers for water fowl on the East Coast, but few know this."

Margo Pellegrino, a nationally known kayaker, lives in Medford Lakes near Upper Aetna Lake on the creek's south branch.

She called the Rancocas "the hidden jewel of Burlington County" and a "pretty river" whose twists and turns she loves to traverse.

"It would be super-cool if we could make it a national trail because it has history and recreation and would get more people paddling."

Carol Comegno: (856) 486-2473; ccomegno@gannettnj.com