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UPDE NPS Hires Planner
Photo: Land Use Planner Jennifer Claster to join NPS Staff at Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River
BEACH LAKE, PA – Superintendent Kristina Heister announced the appointment of Jennifer Z. Claster to the newly-established position of “Community and Land Use Planner” at Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River. Ms. Claster will provide professional planning, technical, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and compliance assistance to NPS management and the Upper Delaware community in assuring that land use issues and growth within the river corridor fulfill the intent of Congress when it established the park.
“Ms. Claster will become an integral part of the team that reviews local, state, and county codes, ordinances, regulations and significant projects to determine compliance with the Upper Delaware Land and Water Use Guidelines and the Upper Delaware River Management Plan,” said Heister. “We are excited to have someone on board with skills that will be valuable both to the local community and in accomplishing traditional ‘park planning’.”
For the past fifteen years, Jennifer has practiced planning and landscape architecture at design and engineering firms in Vermont and Maine, most recently in her own practice, with a focus on parks, trails, streetscapes and land use planning. She also taught landscape design at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and Southern Maine Community College.
Jennifer has also promoted the use of Maine native plants by serving on the board of the non-profit Wild Seed Project and advocated for bicycle and pedestrian improvements as a member of the South Portland Bike-Ped Committee.
A Reading, Pennsylvania native, Jennifer earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Community, Regional, and Environmental Studies from Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, and a Master of Landscape Architecture degree from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Jennifer’s partner, Jake, and their two cats, Dora and Diego, will accompany her in her move.
She will begin her assignment at Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River on April 29, 2018.
