4.
Issues:
A discussion and review of public policy issues and topics
The Lackawanna River Citizens Master Plan (LRCMP) identified a range of issues affecting the Lackawanna River through a needs assessment. The LRCA and various agencies have continued a needs assessment in the identification of problems and the development of programs and projects to address or solve the problems. This process of local ranking, prioritization and implementation occurs in the context of state and national environmental policy. There are numerous local issues that are not adequately addressed or funded by state and federal sources. Local funding capacity is often insufficient to address most issues.
The classification of issues in this plan by general topics address the physical environment of water and land, the human interactions which affect the water and land and the cultural and governmental institutions which influence the human interactions. This organizational approach to issue discussion is also applied later in this plan to the formulation of recommendations for programs, projects and public policy decision-making.
The continuing assessment of needs is discussed across all issues. Numerous criteria have been employed by various agencies to determine need and reach a consensus that specific needs either are or are not being addressed sufficiently to solve an identifiable problem.
The LRCA utilizes one basic criteria in the needs assessment, which has led to the inclusion of the issues in this plan, namely the impact or potential impact of a particular action or inaction on the land and water quality, habitat quality and ecological sustainability of the Lackawanna River and its watershed.
These criteria represent the values embodied in the mission statement of the LRCA found in Article 11, Section One of the Association’s bylaws.
“The purpose of the Lackawanna River Corridor Association is to encourage the appropriate protection, development and management of the Lackawanna River and its adjacent lands. The LRCA’s primary long-term goals are to improve the environment of the Lackawanna River and its adjacent corridor to restore healthy, reproducing fish and wildlife populations; to make the river safe; to expand other recreational uses of the river corridor through the development of riverside parks, trails, boat liveries, and other facilities; to encourage economic development that will benefit and benefit from the enhanced values of the river corridor; and to help the communities bordering on the Lackawanna River to value the river and their heritage, and to appreciate the importance of environmental quality to the health and the economy of the region.”
While the LRCA continues to build consensus towards a solution to the problems evident along the Lackawanna and across its watershed, the practicality of solutions is not a consideration in the identification of problems. It becomes one in the prioritization of public policy and the consensus building needed to implement a given solution.