News Release
Date: October 1, 2015
Contact: Sophie Sarkar, 267-216-4218
PHILADELPHIA, PA: More than 2,000 urban students will paddle the Delaware River and other area waterways, experience their landscapes, work as teams, and learn about key water issues over the next three weeks as the national Canoemobile program rolls into the Delaware River Basin. From October 3-20, 2015 the rig will stop in Philadelphia, PA, Camden, NJ, Wilmington, DE, Chester, PA, Valley Forge National Historical Park, PA, Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site, PA and French Creek State Park, PA. The explorations kick off at the Brandywine Village Fair in Wilmington, Delaware on Saturday, October 3rd.
The Wilderness Inquiry Canoemobile is a fleet of vans each with six handmade 24' Voyageur canoes that delivers place-based education on urban rivers and waterways nationwide.Each canoe holds up to nine students and chaperones and one highly trained boat captain, allowing participants who have never been on the water to have their first paddling experience. In addition to the on-water program, the events will also include land-based curriculum stations around cultural history, ecology, river recreation, watersheds, and water quality, facilitated by over 50 local organizations from the Delaware Basin.
An initiative of the Delaware River Urban Waters Federal Partnership, the Lower Delaware Canoemobile program is a catalyst for federal, state, and local governments, school districts, and non-profit organizations to come together and provide high quality environmental education at scale and where it is least expected. The programs are coordinated by the National Park Service Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance program;supported by USDA Forest Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and US Environmental Protection Agency;hosted by local city agencies and parks departments;and implemented by Wilderness Inquiry and a number of community-based organizations.The goal of the Urban Waters Federal Partnership is to connect residents and communities with their local water resources and to help restore urban waterways.
"The Park Service is a proud supporter of the Canoemobile project," shared Associate Regional Director for the National Park Service Northeast Region Brian Strack. "We firmly believe that when young people have fun in the outdoors through activities like this, it will help engage the next generation of stewards for our local, state and national parks."
"Canoemobile is a wonderful example of Federal agencies working with each other and with local stakeholders to provide an enriching experience for urban youth to explore the outdoors", says Sarah Low, Philadelphia field station coordinator from the USDA Forest Service. "Canoeing on the river is an opportunity for youth to see their city from a new perspective, a greener and more natural perspective. Working together we can make our cities healthier, more resilient places to live and recreate."
For a full schedule of Lower Delaware Canoemobile activities visit:
For more information on the Canoemobile, visit:
www.wildernessinquiry.org/programs/canoemobile
For more information about the Urban Waters Federal Partnership, visit: http://www2.epa.gov/urbanwaterspartners
About the National Park Service. More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America's 407 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Visit us at www.nps.gov, on Facebook www.facebook.com/nationalparkservice, Twitter www.twitter.com/natlparkservice, and YouTube www.youtube.com/nationalparkservice.
Last updated: December 1, 2015