Delaware
‘Unwanted’: Officials oppose national park designation at Delaware Water Gap spot
SANDYSTON – A resolution is being prepared in the New Jersey Assembly and Senate which would put the state Legislature on record opposing the redesignation of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area.
The resolution is being proposed by District 24 state Sen. Parker Space and Assembly members Dawn Fantasia and Michael Inganamort and will collectively call the redesignation proposal “unnecessary and unwanted” by residents in northwestern New Jersey.
Inganamort attended a Saturday information session on the proposal via Zoom and told the crowd that the resolution was being prepared.
On Monday, he said, “You really have to hand it to Sandy Hull and the Delaware Water Gap Defense Fund for their 24/7advocacy to protect the Water Gap as it is. It was a pleasure to join this meeting virtually and I look forward to partnering with them in their advocacy.
“Part and parcel, we’ll be going to our colleagues in the Legislature to explain why this designation is unnecessary and unwise,” he wrote.
Space noted the proposed change “is not necessary and would upset the recreation area’s original mission and still puts uses such as hunting and farming at risk. A new designation that translates into prohibitions and restrictions on currently allowable activities in the recreation area would have a negative impact on our region.”
Fantasia, who is in her first term in the Assembly, recalled that in her previous elected position as a Sussex County commissioner, that board “officially opposed this redesignation for multiple reasons. The fear that this redesignation will disregard the rights of local property owners, and eminent domain will be used by the federal government to acquire private and State property adjacent to the Delaware Water Gap.”
Nearby on the northern end of the recreation area are state-owned High Point State Park and Stokes State Forest. At the southern end of the park in Warren County is Worthington State Forest, which visitors to the park must drive through along Old Mine Road.
Any redesignation of the park must be approved by an act of Congress and Rep. Josh Gottheimer, whose Congressional district crosses northern New Jersey and includes the northern half of the recreation area, has also expressed opposition to any redesignation.
“As I’ve said from day one, designation of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area as a National Park requires significant local input because it directly impacts many North Jersey townships, boroughs, and residents,” he said in a written statement.
“I have full confidence in the mayors and local governments of the Fifth District and their ability to best represent the views of our constituents. Based on input from local officials and residents, it does not seem that the proposal has the necessary local support to move forward,” he added.
Pennsylvania Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-8, and New Jersey Rep. Thomas Kean Jr., D-7, have also expressed concerns about the redesignation campaign and expressed support for the “No Park” movement. Kean’s district includes the southern half of the recreational area and Cartwright’s district includes all but a tiny part of the Pennsylvania side of the park.
There were about 70 people who attended the Saturday session in person at the Sandyston Municipal Building. Numbers of those attending via Zoom were not available.
The redesignation proposal is being pushed by John Donahue, who retired from the National Park Service as superintendent of the recreation area. His website also claims support from Sierra Clubs in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania as well as other environmental groups such as the Appalachian Mountain Club and the New Jersey Highlands Coalition.
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His revised proposal would designate the Delaware River and some of the land on both sides of the river, as the National Park, while the remainder of the nearly 70,000 acres of the park would be designated a national preserve.
The park stretches from near the New York- Pennsylvania border downriver to just south of the geological formation known as the Delaware Water Gap, an opening in the Kittatinny Ridge which allows the river to continue south.
The northern peak of the gap is known as Mount Tammany, while the Pennsylvania side peak is called Mount Minsi.
The 70,000 acres of land and water actually have within its borders three designated units of the park service. The Appalachian National Scenic Trail runs along the Kittatinny Ridge and crosses the river at the gap, before continuing south.
The river itself is also designated the Middle Delaware Recreational and Scenic River. While a separate unit of the NPS, the river is part of the recreational area’s administrative responsibility.
The revised proposal for the Delaware River National Park and Lenape Preserve eliminates the recreational and scenic river as a separate unit and includes the river within the national park designation. The remainder of the land would get the “preserve” designation.
In 2023, the recreation was the 17th-most-visited unit, with more than 4.2 million “recreation visits”, a decline of 173,684 recorded visits, or 3.9%, from 2022.
While there was dip in numbers last year, it was still nearly 25% higher than the 2019 attendance of 3.37 million. In 2022, the recreation area ranked 14th on the NPS list, and ranked 15th in 2021.
Should the recreation area get redesignation, Donahue said his goal is “to place this gem of our national heritage into the jeweled crown of the national park system where it has always belonged.”
And, his website claims, redesignation as a ‘national park’ would be the first in Pennsylvania and New Jersey and increase visitation. It would also eliminate the farmland on either side of the river, allowing the forests to reclaim the land.
Those fields are currently leased by the NPS to local farmers for field crops such as corn, hay and soybeans, and there are strict regulations for “no till,” meaning the fields are not plowed and use of pesticides and fertilizers is highly regulated.
One lesee, however, said that if the land is allowed to go fallow – no further crops grown – it will be taken over by non-native and invasive species long before forests would get a chance to stretch onto the land.
Among other “Our Park” talking points are increased prestige which the group claims will mean increased funding, and increased visitation.
Local impact
While local businesses do get trade from visitors, the amount of vehicles creates traffic jams on weekends, said local mayors at Saturday’s meeting.
Lafayette Mayor Alan Henderson said traffic on Route 15, a main route which leads from eastern New Jersey across mid-Sussex County, linking with Route 206 which provides entry to the park, backs up on weekends.
Milford, Pennsylvania, is at the northern end of the park, where Mayor Sean Strub said, “there’s only three ways in or out of the borough, and on weekends (traffic is) at a standstill” and many are large recreation vehicles which drive across lawns as they make turns.
He also noted that the Route 209 bridge over the Sawkill Creek (within park boundaries) is crumbling and there are no plans from the park service to repair or replace it.
Sandyston Mayor George Harper Jr. said he remembers how the park was created when land was “grabbed for Tocks Island.” The island was the name of a project to build a multi-use dam on the Delaware River by the U.S. Corps of Engineers.
Most of what is now the Water Gap park was purchased or taken by the government for not only the lake behind the dam, but for surrounding acreage which would become a “recreation area” around that lake. The burgeoning environmental movement of the 1960s forced the government to abandon the dam and the land was converted into what is today’s 70,000-acre recreation area.
“I see no benefit to Sandyston to take this from a recreation area to a national park,” he said. “Frankly, there’s no benefit to anyone in this.”
The redesignation idea is just a couple of years old, and any formal action would require Congressional funding of environmental impact studies required for national park and national preserve designation which would take several years, and then a final vote in Congress.
Delaware
*Update – Suspect in Custody* State Police Investigating Home Invasion in Georgetown – Delaware State Police – State of Delaware
Date Posted: Friday, May 29th, 2026
The Delaware State Police have arrested 44-year-old Robert Berry from Millsboro, Delaware for a home invasion that occurred in Georgetown.
On May 15, 2026, at approximately 10:30 a.m., troopers responded to the 24000 block of Lawson Road in Georgetown for a panic alarm activation reported by a home security vendor. Troopers arrived and learned that the 83-year-old female victim had activated her panic alarm after an unknown male suspect, forced his way into her home as she opened her front door. Once inside, the suspect pointed a handgun at her and demanded to see another unknown person he believed was inside the residence. The victim was able to lock herself in a bedroom and activate her panic alarm while the suspect searched through the residence before leaving in an unknown direction. The victim was not injured.
Through investigative means, detectives identified Robert Berry as the suspect and obtained a warrant for his arrest.
On May 28, 2026, Berry was arrested and taken to Troop 4, where he was charged with the crimes listed below, arraigned by Justice of the Peace Court 2, and committed to Sussex Correctional Institution on a $166,000 cash bond.
- Attempt to Commit Robbery 1st Degree (Felony)
- Home Invasion Burglary 1st Degree (Felony)
- Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony (Felony)
- Possess, Purchase, Own, or Control a Firearm/Destructive Weapon if Previously Convicted of Two Violent Felonies on Separate
Occasions (Felony) - Aggravated Menacing (Felony)
Disclaimer: Any individual charged in this release is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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How to report a crime to Delaware Crime Stoppers
This video details what Delaware Crime Stoppers is and how to report a crime. 8/25/23
A 49-year-old Hartly man died after hanging himself in a holding cell at Delaware State Police Troop 3 in Camden, authorities said.
“Video surveillance confirmed that while detained alone in a temporary holding cell at Troop 3, [the suspect] used a shoelace to commit suicide by hanging,” state police said in a May 28 statement. “When troopers found [him], they attempted lifesaving efforts, but he was pronounced dead a short time later.”
Police did not immediately respond to a late May 28 email seeking information on custody protocols or whether the suspect appeared suicidal.
In a May 28 press release, police said troopers were responding to a report of a domestic assault at a home on Misty Way in the Hartly-area about 8 p.m. on May 27.
Before troopers arrived, they were notified that the man had left the residence in his girlfriend’s vehicle. Police said he had an active arrest warrant stemming from a previous incident at the same location on May 22.
The vehicle was spotted by a Delaware State Police helicopter and a chase began, police said.
The chase crossed into Maryland, then returned to Delaware before ending at the residence on Misty Way, police said.
There, police said he initially refused orders to get out of the vehicle, and when he finally did, he resisted further orders from troopers.
Police said he assaulted a DSP canine they deployed. When he was eventually taken into custody, police took him to an area hospital for evaluation of injuries sustained from the dog apprehension.
The Hartly man was released from the hospital on the morning of May 28 and taken to Troop 3, where police said he was charged with several crimes, including strangulation for the May 22 incident and resisting arrest with violence and second-degree assault on a law enforcement animal for the May 27 incident.
Police said he hanged himself while being held at Troop 3, but did not specify when it occurred.
The Delaware State Police Homicide Unit, along with the Delaware Department of Justice’s Division of Civil Rights and Public Trust, are investigating.
Send tips or story ideas to Esteban Parra at (302) 324-2299 or eparra@delawareonline.com. This is a developing story. Return to delawareonline.com for updates.
Why Should Delaware Care?
Earlier this month, a new report found that Delaware is among the top states for math proficiency recovery rates since the COVID pandemic. Although four school districts were highlighted for their progress, all education officials have noted that more work needs to be done to meet their pre-pandemic proficiency levels.
Six years after COVID began, Delaware students still have not returned to their pre-pandemic proficiency rates for reading and math, according to new test scores from the state’s youngest learners.
But many are making progress.
The results from the 2026 Education Scorecard – a large-scale academic study of federal and state testing data by Harvard and Stanford researchers – placed Delaware fourth out of 38 states in math recovery and in the top half of states in reading between 2022 and 2025. Additionally, a handful of school districts – Appoquinimink, Brandywine, Seaford, and Woodbridge – were reported to be among the top 500 in the country for math gains during those three years.
Brandywine and Appoquinimink also were recognized as being among the top reading performers.
Still, no Delaware district has bounced back to match their pre-pandemic math or reading scores.
The report comes as Delaware schools for years have been dogged by low standardized test scores and high rates of chronic absenteeism. And, despite the modest rebounds, education officials say continued growth is needed to get students back to their pre-pandemic proficiency levels.
“Delaware students are still working to recover from the academic disruption of the pandemic, especially in reading,” Delaware Secretary of Education Cindy Marten said in a statement. “That is exactly why Delaware has a strategic plan, why we are focused on early literacy, and why implementation, accountability, and support for districts must remain our priority.”
Stephanie Ingram, president of the state’s educators’ union, pointed toward a need to update Delaware’s public education funding system in order to achieve scores that mirror pre-pandemic proficiency rates.
“If we want to reach – and exceed – pre-pandemic levels of student achievement, then it’s time to replace our post-World War II education funding system with a formula that delivers support where it’s needed most, so every child truly has an opportunity to succeed,” she said.
Focusing on growth, addressing absenteeism
Although Brandywine was one of two school districts that outperformed others in math and reading, Superintendent Lisa Lawson says the district is “absolutely not” where it wants to be in terms of proficiency.
“I do appreciate that we are growing faster in order to get there, but we have miles to go before we sleep,” Lawson said.
She said part of the way to match and surpass pre-pandemic levels is to ensure that students are in school every day.
“When you’re missing 20 or more days in the school year, there isn’t even a chance that we’re going to get you to where you need to be on grade level,” Lawson said.
In 2022, the Brandywine School District had a 29% chronic absenteeism rate, according to the Education Scorecard data. It dropped to just under 16% in 2025.
The United States Department of Education defines chronic absenteeism as a student missing 10% or more of school in a year.
While absenteeism is still above pre-pandemic rates, Lawson said the district will continue to work with organizations, such as the Boys and Girls Club, to ensure students are coming to school.
Breaking down the math
Like the Brandywine School District, Seaford students’ proficiency levels also rose substantially in recent years.
Seaford Director of Instruction Kirsten Jennette credits the increase in part to the district’s efforts to use “illustrative math,” which helps students better understand concepts rather than just step-by-step math processes.
In kindergarten, Seaford students use “math vocabulary,” Jennette said.
“They’re talking about math, they are deeply manipulating and learning about the concept,” she said.
Seaford Superintendent Sharon DiGirolamo said the illustrative style helps students better understand the concept of multiplication or addition as they go through higher grade levels.
“As they get older they start to see that multiplication is just a really fast way of adding,” she said.
The district also saw improvements in its chronic absenteeism rate, which decreased from 29.7% to 8.7% between 2022 and 2025.
‘The beauty and the danger of a scorecard’
In recent years, Delawareans across the political spectrum have grown increasingly frustrated with the state’s education spending compared to students’ test scores.
During a legislative budget committee hearing in March, State Sen. Dave Lawson (R-Marydel) noted his appreciation for Marten’s work, but said he has heard proclamations about improving metrics for the last 14 years, and test scores have still declined.
“So if [performance metrics] aren’t accomplished, what are going to be your actions?” he asked Marten during the meeting. “Are you still going to be secretary?”
For the districts that are not among the top performers, there is a concern that their scores could be weaponized against them if the district goes out for a referendum request.
The fear of weaponization exists in districts, such as Indian River, which saw mixed results on the Education Scorecard. The district’s math score showed improvement between 2022 and 2025, but reading scores declined.
Blair Catlin Brown, president of the district’s educators’ union, said the reading score decline cannot be attributed to just one reason.
While all districts worked toward pre-pandemic proficiency levels, Catlin Brown said her district was also in deficit spending. Those results create a Catch-22: taxpayers may feel less inclined to support a struggling district, but that would lead to deeper cuts that would only further inflame issues.
She said Indian River educators knew a future referendum would not pass, and they were left waiting for decisions regarding which staff members and programs would be cut.
“That just creates a feeling of unease, dissatisfaction, feeling like you’re not being valued, because at the same time we don’t stop working hard,” Catlin Brown said.
At the same time, the district was working toward incorporating a new curriculum that focused on the science of reading.
In August 2022, then-Gov. John Carney signed House Bill 304 into law, which prioritized the science of reading and required all public school students in kindergarten through third grade to participate in a screening three times a year to identify potential reading challenges.
Catlin Brown said the district did find a curriculum aligned with the science of reading, but acknowledged that it can take several years before a district sees improvement from a new curriculum.
She also said that reports, such as the Education Scorecard, do not show community members how hard teachers are working to get to pre-pandemic levels and higher, or that the district has recently updated and enhanced its curriculum.
“That’s the beauty and the danger of a scorecard,” she said.
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