FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date: April 3, 2002 Contact: Hugh Carola, Jared Eudell

New Season Begins for Canoe Project

Hackensack Riverkeeper livery service set to re-open on April 6^th

Secaucus – On Saturday, April 6, 2002, Hackensack Riverkeeper will open the fourth season of its Canoe Livery in Laurel Hill County Park. The canoe livery is the first and only small boat rental facility on the Hackensack River in more than fifty years. “It’s wonderful that we can bring this recreational, educational and environmental activity back to the citizens of the Hackensack River Watershed,” said project manager Jared Eudell.

Paddlers that visit the livery—located near the shade of Laurel Hill and the New Jersey Turnpike—require only a 10 minute journey across the river until the sights and sounds of industry and transportation disappear and the landscape becomes a vast sea of Phragmites and Spartina grasses, inhabited by dozens of species of waterfowl and other birds. With luck, paddlers may even glimpse diamondback terrapins, turtles that inhabit brackish marshes like the Meadowlands.

As in previous years, paddlers can rent canoes on weekends from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. through the end of May. Beginning in June, the livery will be open Wednesdays through Sundays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Upon arriving, paddlers are issued personal flotation devices and paddles and are given a short instructional and safety demonstration before taking to the river.

The four-hour rental agreement is time enough for a trip through the Sawmill Creek Wildlife Management Area—the “jewel of the Meadowlands,” or along the River to nearby marshes and creeks. Each spot in the Meadowlands has a slightly different character with variable riverscapes, habitats and wildlife. The fees are $20 per boat for a four-hour rental and $30 per boat for a rental up to eight hours. Guided canoe tours are also available for an additional $25 per group.

A number of new activities are planned for this season. Repeat paddlers can earn credits toward discounts on canoe rentals and other Hackensack Riverkeeper programs. Six monthly open guided tours are scheduled. Those so wishing may also register for a new Eco-Canoe summer camp that will take people throughout the upper and lower sections of the Hackensack River Watershed. More information about these programs, as well as directions to Laurel Hill County Park, can be obtained by calling 201-692-8440 or via the Internet at http://www.hackensackriverkeeper.org/canoeproject.html.