ALLEN TWP., Pa. — State and local officials celebrated Northampton County’s history of land preservation Monday during the Lehigh Valley Greenways Jamboree at Wayne Grube Memorial Park.
This year’s jamboree celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Northampton County Parks and Recreation division and the 20th anniversary of Lehigh Valley Greenways.
It offered food trucks, live music and booths manned by the programs’ partners.
“Today is a joint celebration of installing almost 80 miles of trail in the last 20 years, protecting over 7,000 acres of natural lands, and planting thousands of trees and plants throughout the Lehigh Valley.”Brit Kondravy, one of Lehigh Valley Greenways' coordinators
It’s also a stop on the Lehigh River Sojourn, a multi-day series of trips along the river. Paddlers finished their Monday float at Grube Park with a food truck voucher and the option to camp in the park overnight.
“Today is a joint celebration of installing almost 80 miles of trail in the last 20 years, protecting over 7,000 acres of natural lands, and planting thousands of trees and plants throughout the Lehigh Valley,” said Brit Kondravy, one of Lehigh Valley Greenways' coordinators.
State Department of Conservation and National Resources Secretary Cindy Dunn joined the sojourn, and celebrated the county’s efforts alongside county officials at the jamboree afterward.
Lehigh Valley Greenways is among the state’s eight Conservation Landscapes, programs that align a host of partners from state and local government, businesses and nonprofits toward environmental preservation.
'Only way to preserve quality of life'
The Valley’s program, led by the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor, focuses on creating and connecting a network of paths along with conservation and education programs.
“In the Lehigh Valley, we lose about four square miles of open space per year to development,” Kondravy said.
“While development is important for economic growth, preserving the open space is really the only way to preserve quality of life.”
“Everyone pitches in and everyone cares. Everyone does their share. And that's what it takes, especially in the built environment of the Lehigh Valley."Pa. Secretary of Conservation and Natural Resources Cindy Dunn
Dunn said he felt proud of the DCNR for its role in "this incredible partnership."
"Everyone pitches in and everyone cares," Dunn said. "Everyone does their share.
"And that's what it takes, especially in the built environment of the Lehigh Valley.”
When the Valley’s Conservation Landscapes program, the first of its kind in the state, was first getting off the ground two decades ago, “we never in a million years dreamed of the conviction and commitment people around here have for open space,” she said.
“It's often the case that we have administrations and councils who don't invest the $25 million in the preservation of farmland, open space and environmentally sensitive land that my administration will have invested,” Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure said.
The county’s Parks and Recreation division, led by Superintendent Bryan Cope, is responsible for managing that preserved land.
It also puts on the annual Greenways Jamboree. Because of the two major anniversaries, this year’s event is larger than those of the past few years.
The department’s 50-year history, Dunn said, is remarkable.
“Fifty years commitment to Parks and Recreation," she said. "I don't know another county that has that.”
