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Kerry posing near Narrowsburg Bridge

UDC Welcomes Kerry Engelhardt as Resources and Land Use Specialist

NARROWSBURG – The Upper Delaware Council (UDC) is pleased to announce the hiring of Lackawaxen Township, PA resident Kerry Engelhardt, P.E., as Resources and Land Use Specialist, effective November 22, 2021.

In the full-time position, Engelhardt will provide technical support to the non-profit organization and coordinate reviews of land and resource management activities to help ensure proper implementation of the River Management Plan in accordance with the Land and Water Use Guidelines for the Congressionally-designated Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River in New York and Pennsylvania.

Engelhardt is a Professional Engineer (licensed in Pennsylvania and New Jersey), a Certified Municipal Engineer (NJ), and a 2012-2018 Professional Planner (NJ), who moved year-round to Northeast PA in 2015 to a former vacation property on 9-1/2 wooded acres along the Lackawaxen River.

She most recently worked as a freelance consultant for MCB Engineering Associates based in Totowa, NJ, with responsibilities to secure environmental permits, prepare Flood Hazard Application plans and technical reports, design stormwater management plans, and revise site plans based on comments from regulatory agencies and planning boards.

Prior to that, Engelhardt worked as a civil engineer for Schwanewede/Hals Engineering in Oakland, NJ and a project engineer for Sickels & Associates, Inc. of Woodbury, NJ.

Born in Queens, NY, Engelhardt grew up in Bergen County, NJ and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey in 2000.

“I was thrilled to see the opening for the Resources and Land Use Specialist position on the Council’s Instagram account. I have been on the lookout for a position where I can use my skills and two decades’ experience working as a civil engineer to conserve and protect natural areas, rather than to expand development. It seemed to be such a perfect fit,” Engelhardt says.

“I look forward to getting to know all of the different towns and townships in the river corridor, and to being a part of helping to make good decisions to promote sustainable and responsible development and assure that the river can be enjoyed by everyone,” she adds.

Engelhardt and her husband of 11 years, Chris Hunt, a fellow Rutgers School of Engineering graduate, jumped at the chance to buy his family’s serene Lackawaxen home which they had visited as often as they could to “escape an increasingly-developed Southern New Jersey” and enjoy a more natural environment.

In the river running behind their house, Engelhardt likes to swim, fish, kayak, and tube. She served as a Watershed Steward for the National Park Service Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River in the summer of 2016, based at the Zane Grey Access in Lackawaxen.

Engelhardt is an “enthusiastic birder” who began volunteering with the Delaware Highlands Conservancy (DHC) in 2016 and joined its Eagle Conservation Committee in 2018. She participates in DHC Eagle Watch programs, – noting that “it never gets old” to spot those iconic birds – does site visits and monitoring of conserved lands, and helps with public outreach.

As a landowner interested in environmental stewardship, Engelhardt has attended DHC “Women and their Woods” educational retreats and workshops.

She is also an amateur beekeeper with four active hives this season, co-founder of a 10-year-old, Brooklyn-based book club for her love of reading, and hobbies include cross-stitching, attending live music performances, and hiking with their pit bull dog named Indiana.

The Resources and Land Use Specialist position became vacant on October 15 when Shannon Cilento left to join Sullivan Renaissance, Inc. as its Community Development Program Manager after having worked at the UDC since July 15, 2020.

Engelhardt may be reached at (845) 252-3022 or kerry@upperdelawarecouncil.org. The UDC office is located at 211 Bridge St. in Narrowsburg, NY.

For more information on the UDC federal-state-local partnership and its activities, please visit www.upperdelawarecouncil.org or check its Facebook and Instagram social media pages.

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