The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control will host two public meetings to discuss the Brandywine Trail improvement project, which began construction on Feb. 27, on Wednesday, March 15, at 4:00 and 6:30 p.m. at the Blue Ball Barn in Alapocas Run State Park, Wilmington.

Those who are unable to attend and have questions on the improvement project or trail plan can visit destateparks.com/contact and select “Brandywine Creek State Park Trail Plan” from the Delaware State Parks location drop-down menu.

The improvement project is part of the Brandywine Creek State Park Trail Plan, which was created to guide trail investments and improvement for the next 10 years and approved after a multiyear planning process in June 2022. Public participation was a core component in developing this plan. Discussions were held with representatives of trail and park user groups regarding the trail plan. The plan was also presented at multiple public meetings, including open houses in 2015 and 2019 and a Council on Greenways and Trails meeting in May 2022.

About DNREC

About DNREC
The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control protects and manages the state’s natural resources, protects public health, provides outdoor recreational opportunities and educates Delawareans about the environment. The DNREC Division of Parks and Recreation oversees more than 26,000 acres in 17 state parks and the Brandywine Zoo. For more information, visit the website and connect with @DelawareDNREC on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or LinkedIn.

Media Contacts: Shauna McVey, shauna.mcvey@delaware.gov or Michael Globetti, michael.globetti@delaware.gov.

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The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control will close The Point at Cape Henlopen State Park, including a stretch of ocean and bay beach, Wednesday, March 1. Since 1993, The Point has closed annually for most of the spring and summer for the benefit of threatened and endangered beachnesters and migratory shorebirds, including red knots, piping plovers, oystercatchers, least terns and other species.

The Point’s nesting habitat on the ocean side will reopen to the public Sept. 1. The bayside beach will remain closed until Oct. 1 for use by shorebirds migrating south for the winter. 

The DNREC Divisions of Parks and Recreation, Fish and Wildlife, and Watershed Stewardship have worked together since 1990 to implement a management plan to help grow shorebird populations in Delaware.

About DNREC

The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control protects and manages the state’s natural resources, protects public health, provides outdoor recreational opportunities and educates Enjoy the natural diversity of Delaware’s 17 state parks. Delawareans about the environment. The DNREC Division of Parks and Recreation oversees more than 26,000 acres in 17 state parks and the Brandywine Zoo. For more information, visit the website and connect with @DelawareDNREC on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

Media Contacts: Shauna McVey, shauna.mcvey@delaware.gov or Michael Globetti, michael.globetti@delaware.gov.

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Brent Wiest of Milton, captain of the Katydid, landed a state-record 21-pound 7.7-ounce, 32-inch tautog at Artificial Reef Site 11 (also known as the Redbird Reef) in the Atlantic Ocean last May 5 as one of six sportfish species for which new Delaware records were established in 2022. Submitted photo.

New state records for six fish species as caught from fresh and saltwater were established during the 2022 Delaware Sport Fishing Tournament, the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control announced today. Anglers landed their record catches from a freshwater pond, the Nanticoke River and the Atlantic Ocean, where there were three saltwater state records set, including a tautog weighing almost 21½ pounds caught from a Delaware artificial reef site established by the DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife.

The six record catches as certified by the Division of Fish and Wildlife were:

• A 7-pound 10-ounce, 30-inch chain pickerel caught March 5 at McGinnis Pond near Frederica by William Mack of Frederica while fishing from his kayak;
• A 21-pound 7.7-ounce, 32-inch tautog landed May 5 at Artificial Reef Site 11 in the Atlantic Ocean by Brent Wiest of Milton fishing from and as captain of the Katydid;
• A 26-pound 11.2-ounce, 35.5-inch false albacore reeled in July 8 from the Atlantic Ocean by Mike Spayd of Wyomissing, Pa., while fishing on the No Limit captained by Jon Azato;
• An 89-pound 3.2-ounce, 63-inch cobia caught July 15 in the Atlantic Ocean by Scott Brooks of Hockessin while fishing on the Coughin’ captained by Jesse Coulbourn;
• A 25-pound 8-ounce, 38-inch blueline tilefish landed Aug. 27 from the Atlantic Ocean by Dain Hursh of York, Pa., while fishing on the Outnumbered captained by Chris Graham; and
• A 48-pound 3.2 ounce, 40.5-inch blue catfish reeled in Oct. 8 from the Nanticoke River by James Lord of Bridgeville.

For more information about Delaware Sport Fishing Tournament state records, visit de.gov/recfishing. Information about the tournament and state record fish also can be found in the 2023 Delaware Fishing Guide, which is available in printed form from license agents throughout the state.

About DNREC
The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control protects and manages the state’s natural resources, protects public health, provides outdoor recreational opportunities and educates Delawareans about the environment. The DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife conserves and manages Delaware’s fish and wildlife and their habitats, and provides fishing, hunting, wildlife viewing and boating access on nearly 68,000 acres of public land owned or managed by the Division of Fish and Wildlife. For more information, visit the website and connect with @DelawareDNREC on Facebook, Instagram,  Twitter or LinkedIn.

Media Contact: Michael Globetti, michael.globetti@delaware.gov; Nikki Lavoie, nikki.lavoie@delaware.gov

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A new African American History Trail at the Iron Hill Museum was funded by a DNREC grant. DNREC photo

With today’s unveiling of a new African American History Trail on the grounds of the Iron Hill Museum and Science Center in Newark, visitors will have the opportunity to learn more about the 1923 schoolhouse that houses the museum and the unique story of the free Black community that formed on Iron Hill in the 1830s. The trail – along with a new Monarch butterfly waystation and a project that removed invasive plants from the grounds to help clear the way for them – was funded by a Community Environmental Project Fund (CEPF) grant from the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control.

“The CEPF grant program was created to support community environmental restoration projects. This project encompasses a broad spectrum of DNREC’s mission, from historical and cultural education and environmental justice to natural habitat restoration, invasive plant removal and supporting the life cycle of Monarch butterflies,” said DNREC Secretary Shawn M. Garvin. “Today, we also recognized Eagle Scout Cameron Mills, the volunteer who built and installed the trail’s sign posts. DNREC is proud to support and be part of the Iron Hill Museum’s important work.”

“The African American History Trail allows the Iron Hill Museum to broaden its interpretation of the schoolhouse by including the under-recognized history of an independent, long-standing free African American community of landowners on Iron Hill, placing it into the context of a society in which free and enslaved Blacks co-existed before the Civil War. The families remained strong through the post-war periods of reconstruction and the era of segregation, where every-day struggles for economic and educational justice was supported by community church, and family,” said Debbie Keese, museum board member and researcher. “It is hoped that today’s families visiting the site will be able to make comparisons between past and present-day politics, social norms, family structures, and educational practices while inspiring thoughtful discourse about issues of equity and justice, both social and environmental, in a safe, comfortable, and beautiful space.”

The Delaware Academy of Science was established in 1968 with the purpose of promoting science in the First State, and to support their work established the Iron Hill Museum in the former Iron Hill School 112C, one of 87 schools built throughout the state by Pierre S. du Pont to educate Black children in the 1920s. Today its mission continues to promote and preserve scientific education including natural history, archaeology and anthropology of the area, technology, service, museum collections, programs, and community collaborations. A science center was added in 2016, with the schoolhouse now focused on the Black school experience and history of the area and the people who lived there, including Native Americans, free and enslaved African Americans, miners and farm laborers. The museum received a prior CEPF grant for a Pollinator Garden and Education Project.

The Community Environmental Project Fund was created by the Delaware General Assembly in 2004 to provide funds to support environmental restoration projects in communities that were damaged by environmental pollution. The legislation authorizes DNREC to establish a grant fund by withholding 25% of funds collected as penalties for violations of environmental regulations. These funds are returned to the communities where the violations occurred as competitive grants to nonprofit organizations to support community environmental projects. Eligible community environmental projects are pollution mitigation, environmental enhancement recreational opportunities. More information about the program can be found on the DNREC website at de.gov/cepf.

About DNREC
The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control protects and manages the state’s natural resources, protects public health, provides outdoor recreational opportunities and educates Delawareans about the environment. For more information, visit the website and connect with @DelawareDNREC on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or LinkedIn.

Media Contacts: Joanna Wilson, Joanna.wilson@delaware.gov; Michael Globetti, michael.globetti@delaware.gov

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The Monarch butterfly is a welcome pollinator for gracing any yard or garden with its presence. Attracting them is also mutually beneficial for this majestic butterfly whose numbers have fallen off due to loss of habitat, herbicide use along their migratory routes and impacts of climate change. Photo courtesy of James Davis.

Hosted by DNREC Division of Watershed Stewardship in Laurel

The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control will host two free presentations in March on techniques for attracting butterflies, birds, and other pollinators to suburban yards and gardens and helping them to thrive and flower.

The presentations, part of the DNREC Division of Watershed Stewardship’s Reclaim Our River Program – Nanticoke Series, in partnership with the Delaware Nature Society and the Nanticoke Watershed Alliance, will be given at the Laurel Public Library on March 6 and 27. They will be led by Carol Stephens, a Delaware Master Naturalist by way of a science-based natural resource training program jointly coordinated by University of Delaware Cooperative Extension and Delaware Nature Society.

• On March 6, “5 Steps for More Butterflies in Your Garden” will highlight easy practices that homeowners can use to increase butterfly populations and for their own outdoor viewing pleasure.
• On March 27, “Helpful Tools for the Birds and the Bees in 2023” will focus on the native shrubs, trees, and flowers most likely to attract birds, bees, and other pollinators. Plant sources for native shrubs, trees, flowers, and seeds also will be shared, along with ideas that homeowners can gradually incorporate into their yard, one step at a time, for enticing more pollinators.

Both hour-long presentations are scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at the Laurel Public Library, 101 E. Fourth Street, Laurel, Del. A limited supply of butterfly habitat-enhancing milkweed seeds will be given away to attendees.

Plants rely on pollinators such as insects and animals moving pollen from one plant to another, to ensure that a plant or tree produces vegetables, fruits and nuts. Flowering plants not only provide food, but also are essential in maintaining local water quality because of their ability to absorb nutrients, prevent erosion and purify water. Insect pollinators have been declining due to the use of pesticides and the loss of habitat and their host plants. Creating a native plant garden can benefit local pollinator populations by offering more opportunities for nectar and reproduction.

About DNREC
The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control protects and manages the state’s natural resources, protects public health, provides outdoor recreational opportunities and educates Delawareans about the environment. The DNREC Division of Watershed Stewardship develops and implements innovative watershed assessment, monitoring and implementation activities. For more information, visit the website and connect with @DelawareDNREC on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or LinkedIn.

Media Contacts: Michael Globetti, michael.globetti@delaware.gov; Nikki Lavoie, nikki.lavoie@delaware.gov