The state Department of Environmental Protection has not renewed a concession agreement that allowed a tubing company access to the Delaware & Raritan Canal State Park used by the company to drop off and pick up customers along the Delaware.

Delaware River Tubing, Inc., a tubing, rafting, canoeing and kayaking business located in Alexandria Township that received a 2017 award from the New Jersey Travel Industry Association, has been offering summer excursions on the river since 2002. The concession agreement dates to 2013. It’s owned by Greg Crance, who, since 1987, has operated a hotdog stand on a platform stationed in the middle of the Delaware River.

Yuuj Crance, operations manager of Delaware River Tubing and Greg’s son, said the company has paid an estimated $265,000 to the DEP over the past six years as part of concession agreements. Greg Crance said this year’s negotiations for renewal of the agreement ended after a verbal agreement by their attorney on an offer from the state was rejected by the DEP.

The DEP declined to comment on the decision, but provided documents to NJ Advance Media that show the tubing company’s written proposals were rejected and that Delaware River Tubing is in violation for operating in a state park without a concession.

Without a concession, Delaware River Tubing isn’t allowed to drop off or pick up customers in State Park areas and faces citations and ticketing from State Park Police for doing so.

“My attorney called the (New Jersey) Attorney General (Gurbir Singh Grewal) and said, ‘Look, just to keep the peace, we’ll take the deal that they offered,'" Greg Crance said. "And (the DEP) said, ‘No, absolutely not. We’re not open for a counterproposal. The deal is off; we’re not renewing it.’”

According to the DEP, New Jersey accepts applications for access to the river on state park land that the State Park Service determines to be “appropriate and consistent with the use of public lands.”

Both Yuuji Crance and Greg Crance said they should not have been required to get a concession to operate their business on state park lands.

“We technically are not (a concession)," Yuuji Crance said. “A concession is an onsite business that does business on State Park land. We’re offsite. Yes, we do have to cross over certain state park areas, but they’re visiting us to visit the river, which is a federal waterway. The Delaware River is not part of the State Park system; everybody owns it.”

“People aren’t coming here for the park; they’re coming for our property," Greg Crance added. “It’s just like if you were a member of a summer camp and the summer camp owned an old bus that took the kids to parks and places. You’re not paying for the bus ride. You’re paying for the summer camp.”

The DEP added an advisory alert to its site stating that river tubing businesses are prohibited from the Delaware & Raritan Canal State Park areas. Electronic signs directing people to the site have also been installed in the vicinity of the park, alongside the streets of Route 29 and Milford Frenchtown Road.

Yuuji Crance said the alert and signs are targeting the company, which received the President’s Award in an annual marketing competition conducted by the New Jersey Travel Industry Association. He added he believes that the state is “doing everything in their power essentially to shut us down."

A letter has been sent by the company, Yuuji Crance said, to Gov. Phil Murphy seeking support for the company’s right to access the river from state park land. In the letter, he argues that the restriction contradicts a recent law that gives the public access to shorelines and tidal waters used for commerce, navigation and recreation.

“What we’re looking for (through sending the letter) is support for not just us, but the public as well, to have clear and unfettered access to the natural waterways," Yuuji Crance said. "What we’re looking to do is promote tourism ... and the beautiful scenery that’s out here, for commerce, recreation and navigation.

“We have the DEP trying to shut down a company that does recreation. We’re eco-friendly, we don’t allow alcohol ... we do everything you would think the DEP stands for. We’re just scratching our heads here wondering, ‘What is going on? Why aren’t they renewing us?’ There’s no reason why they shouldn’t be."

A DEP spokesperson confirmed to NJ Advance Media that two areas the tubing company had been using, the Kingwood Boat Launch and the Point Pleasant parking area, are State Park property “open for public use” but not “unauthorized commercial use.”

The Kingwood Boat Launch, located at the Kingwood Boat Ramp off Route 29, was used by Delaware River Tubing as a starting point for its 4-hour tubing and rafting trips on the river. Greg Crance said while the boat ramp is state park property, he said it should be considered “a public access point."

“They do have the authority for the Kingwood Boat Ramp, to maintain and to mow," Greg Crance said. "But not to turn it into a state park. The state owns it, the state park is allowed to maintain it, but they have to maintain it as state access to a federal waterway.”

Yuuji Crance added, “The Federal Public Trust Doctrine states that once state access is made, it must be made available forever to the public. That’s why we believe the position that we do.”

Yuuji Crance said after he purchased launch passes for the company’s support boats, they received a letter from the State Park Service stating because there is no longer a concession agreement, the passes cannot be used to launch commercial vessels. The DEP provided a copy of the letter to NJ Advance Media.

"We still got ticketed for launching a boat with a valid permit,” Yuuji Crance said. “So, we have not been going (to that boat launch) the past couple of weeks or so because, even though we feel that’s public and that’s a public access point, we don’t want to have a million tickets to go to court over.”

The company has been redirecting all of its customers to its Fairview entrance, “a tiny pull off” located off the side of Fairview Road, Greg Crance said. He added that the company was issued a ticket from the State Park Police for operating in that area as well.

The DEP has also prohibited the company from accessing a Point Pleasant parking area used to pick up its customers, Greg Crance said. Now, customers are picked up on the shoulder of Route 29, but the State Park Police are now saying they can’t pick people up on the shoulder, he added.

“They (the State Park) physically installed barriers in the entire exit, blocking the bus lanes,” Yuuji Crance said. "There’s big orange construction cones with caution tape around it so our buses can’t pull into the exit to pick up our customers when they’re done (with the trip).”

Greg Crance said this lot is not owned by the DEP, but by the state Department of Transportation.

Yuuji Crance said the DEP is “weaponizing the State Park Police against us.”

“Literally, at our exit point the other day, there were four state Troopers and three State Park Police there just to intimidate us and harass us," Yuuji Crance said. “They’ve been citing us, basically every day that we’re operating. Bus drivers have quit, terrified that this is going to affect their licenses.”

Greg Crance expressed his desire that the company’s ongoing conflicts with the DEP can be resolved. “Right now, I should be ordering hand towels," he said. "Right now, I should be watching people’s floats and know that they’re safe. I’d really rather be doing that than fighting the state.”