Wildlands Conservancy Thrill of Hypocrisy

Yesterday, was the last day of the Conservancy's Annual Lehigh River Sojourn. The event was well covered by The Morning Call, with both a reporter and photographer on board one of the rafts. The three day event started with a talk by Chris Kocher, President of the Wildlands. The group gets grants during the winter to demolish dams, and grants during the summer to conduct this educational sojourn on the Lehigh river. Last year, Wildlands spend over $250,000 in grant money on just a study, promoting the removal of Wehr's Dam. Their website stated that the Lehigh Sojourn would take place rain or shine, but doesn't explain why. What Chris Kocher and The Morning Call fail to reveal is that their raft adventure is scheduled to coincide with the water release from the Francis E. Walter Dam in White Haven. It is only because of this dam that the Lehigh has a steady flow of water, and that these hypocrites can get their whitewater thrill.

photo of Wildlands Conservancy hypocrites enjoying dam release by Harry Fisher of The Morning Call

reprinted from June 30, 2015

ADDENDUM: This past Sunday, June 5, 2016,  Chris Kocher had an editorial in The Morning Call praising the accomplishments of his organization.  Although he mentions their upcoming river trip this summer, he doesn't use the word dam.  Additionally, although he mentions stream miles open for fish passage,  he still doesn't use the word "dam."  He doesn't mention demolishing a 10 inch high WPA dam, and dumping the ruble around the beautiful stone bridge piers.  He doesn't mention contributing to the largest fish kill in Lehigh Valley history, by demolishing the Fish Hatchery Dam, which regulated the water flow into the fish ponds during storm flooding.  He doesn't mention spending  $259,000 on  a taxpayer funded engineering study, to greatly inflate the cost of repairing Wehr's Dam.  He doesn't mention reneging on his own pledge to back away from trying to demolish Wehr's Dam.   The Wildlands Conservancy remains a sacred cow, allowing people to feel politically correct about the environment,  even if the Conservancy tells a few fibs along the way to pay their own salary.