SULLIVAN COUNTY — The 2025 Upper Delaware River (UDR) Network announced three re-grant awardees totaling $205,000 on Thursday, April 3; the recipients were Trout Unlimited, Friends of the Upper Delaware River, and Sullivan County. The re-grant awards are supported by funding from New York State and are designed to protect our local watershed and help local governments meet water management needs. 

Trout Unlimited (TU), a national non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of freshwater streams and rivers, received

$30,000 to replace a culvert on Laurel Creek. This project, which is in partnership with the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s New York Field Office and is a part of the Community Infrastructure Improvement Project, will help reconnect multiple miles of stream for brook trout.

Friends of the Upper Delaware River (FUDR) was awarded $75,000 to replace a high priority culvert barrier in the Berry Brook watershed. Designed to reduce flooding, the project partners the FUDR with TU, the Town of Colchester, US Fish and Wildlife Service, private landowners, and New York State Department of Conservation.

The County of Sullivan was awarded $100,000 to construct a bicycle and pedestrian bridge over Neversink River in partnership with the Town of Fallsburg and the Sullivan County O&W Rail Trail Alliance. The bridge will capitalize on opportunities to connect existing trails into an excursion-length trail that will attract tourists, offer commuting options, and provide recreational opportunities.

Sullivan County Department of Planning Director Heather Jacksey said this grant award for the bridge over Neversink River is a small part of a large multi-million dollar project to create an easily accessible hiking trail along the former O&W rail corridor, a historic rail system used to transport coal before it went bankrupt in 1957. 

Starting in 2018, this project has already “completed site research and extensive engineering,” said Jacksey, and has benefited from funding at the county, state, and federal level. Jacksey said the project has utilized in-kind labor from the Town of Fallsburg Highway Department and Parks Department. 

Jacksey explained the vision of the project: “We would like a 50-mile trail with easily understood navigation that is ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act Standards for Accessible Design) compliant…from Mountaindale all the way through Hurleyville.” Jacksey said the construction will utilize pre-existing abutments from the original O&W train bridge and will result in a new bridge approximately 180 feet long connecting the existing trail in Fallsburg with an undeveloped trail on the other side of the river.

According to the Sullivan County O&W Feasibility Study, “The Sullivan County O&W Rail Trail will become a continuous recreational trail that will attract visitors and link to businesses and amenities in 9 hamlets and 2 villages … and provide health and quality of life benefits to residents and visitors.” The project objectives aim to “design a new trail that is continuous…[and] will accommodate a diverse range of users such as pedestrians, bicyclists, dog walkers, families, and equestrians.” The project also includes programming that will “highlight the local history, culture, and natural environment…and teach the history of the O&W Railroad.”