The purpose of this book is to honor history. The history of the place now called the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation is unusual in many respects.   Its prehistory is overwhelming in its silence.   If one has respect for cemeteries in general, then they would have proportionately greater respect for the river valley in which the remains of 11,000 years of nameless inhabitants are entombed.   Beneath the surface also are the remnants of their domiciles.   Their stone possessions speak clearly of their past presence.   But there are no historic markers, no memorials, and no monuments to their posterity.

Lavishly illustrated with numerous photographs, illustrations, and maps, Lasting Legacies of the Lower Minisink is unusual in that it introduces readers to a sampling of over 100 residents whose lives were interrupted by the 1962 and 1965 federal declarations of eminent domain.  Inspired by a meeting of the Dutch Hill Gun Club where it was decided that it was necessary to document the unfolding history caused by this second displacement of the Lower Minisink's inhabitants, it also walks us through the anxieties of displaced citizens, and difficulties faced when serious attempts are made to alter the course of a flawed federal program.  Through historical research it explores the dynamic colonial history of an otherwise scenic, demure portion of Americana.  It is a worthy read which very aptly presents the case for Delaware River as a free-flowing body of water.

Nancy Michael Shukaitis spent her first twenty-one years on the Delaware River at her parent's farm. When utility interests proposed a dam in 1947 they were met with a protest petition she provided for the Federal Power Commission.  Tocks Island Dam was approved without public Congressional hearings in 1962, and thus prompted yearly input in House and Senate Public Works and Interior hearings from 1964 to 1978 when the Wild & Scenic Rivers Act precluded damming the Middle Delaware River. She and many others worked to coordinate citizen knowledge and research that led to formation of the Save the Delaware Coalition. It took 30 years to remove Tocks Island Dam from the Congressional list of projects awaiting construction.