by David Pierce, author, journalist and former DWGNRA Park Ranger
What does the fatal 1955 flood of the Wallenpaupack Creek have to do with a 1962 Congressionally approved plan to dam the Delaware River near Tocks Island? Author David Pierce will explain this connection Monday, August 4, during a presentation sponsored by the Greene-Dreher Historical Society. Pierce will recount the contentious, bizarre, and often heart-wrenching story of efforts to dam the river and how a regional grassroots movement slowly turned the tide of public opinion in the 1960s and ’70s against the project. He will describe how thousands of people lost their homes, farms, camps and businesses for what became an expanded national recreation area, without the originally planned dam and 37-mile-long reservoir. Various maps depicting the project will be on display.
As a young graduate of Stroudsburg High School, David Pierce embarked on a reporting and editing career that took him to the Alaska Public Radio Network, the Kodiak Daily Mirror, Hamburg (New York) Sun, and Springville (New York) Journal. From 2000 to 2016, he was a Pocono Record reporter. Pierce has won several news reporting awards. More recently he has worked as a National Park Service interpretive ranger at the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area.
Following his presentation, Pierce will sell signed copies of his book, Tocks Island: Dammed If You Do—The Homegrown Movement that Defeated the Delaware River Dam, published in 2023.
The program is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will follow the presentation, which is being sponsored by the Historical Society’s Business Partner, Brookfield Renewable Energy.
