Upgrade Petition for the Hosensack Creek
Overview
On February 3, 2015, Delaware Riverkeeper Network and co-petitioners submitted a petition to the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (PA DEP) to upgrade the Hosensack Basin and all of its tributaries to Exceptional Value status. You can view and download the full petition here.
The Hosensack Creek, a tributary to the Perkiomen Creek flows through a rich area of forested and preserved country farms with rolling hills and historical features throughout that make it a unique natural region for Lehigh and Montgomery County residents and visitors alike. Within the Hosensack’s waters, reproducing wild brown and brook trout thrive and help indicate this stream deserves a stronger protection than its existing Cold Water Fishery, Migratory Fishery designation. The stream is also host to a diverse macroinvertebrate community and healthy thriving wetlands where endangered and threatened species reside, which makes it an ever more important watershed to protect.
The petition regulatory process is a lengthy one. Delaware Riverkeeper Network is urging the PA DEP to provide existing use EV designation promptly so this watershed can be protected from future potential threats while the stream works its way through the regulatory process. Organizations and individuals can help garner support for this submitted petition by writing a letter to the PA DEP at:
Honorable Patrick McDonnell
Chairperson, Environmental Quality Board
Secretary of Environmental Protection
16th Floor, Rachel Carson State Office Building
400 Market Street, Harrisburg, PA 17101
You can also email RA-EPEQB@pa.gov. Please be sure to also send a copy of your letter to Delaware Riverkeeper Network as well.
If you live in the Hosensack Watershed and have photos of the scenic beauty of the watershed, please share them with us. If you have fished the stream and observed trout, let us know that too. You can share photos by sending them to faith@delawareriverkeeper.org. Finally, be sure to contact your elected representatives and urge them to write to PA DEP in support of the redesignation petition to protect the Hosensack Creek and grant it Exceptional Value (EV) status.
Related Issue
Beaver Creek, Delaware County, PA