New award recognizes youth accomplishments in wetlands

DOVER – DNREC’s Division of Watershed Stewardship is seeking nominations for the 2016 Delaware Wetland Warrior Award and the program’s new youth award, Wetland Apprentice. These awards recognize exemplary efforts to study, protect and preserve wetlands and the critical services they provide to all Delawareans.

The adult Wetland Warrior Award, now in its 9th year, is presented annually to a citizen, organization, business or other group that has demonstrated outstanding efforts to benefit Delaware’s wetlands through outreach and education, monitoring and assessment or restoration and protection. Past recipients of the award have varied from natural resources program managers who have pushed the envelope in restoration practices, to landowners who have become voluntary hands-on stewards of wetlands on their property, to volunteers who have run and supported wetland conservation programs. For a complete list of all past recipients, please visit the Wetland Warrior webpage.

The Wetland Apprentice award will recognize a K-12 student, classroom or school for volunteering or completing a project to evaluate, improve or educate about the condition of Delaware’s wetlands.

The Wetland Warrior and Wetland Apprentice awards will be presented by Governor Jack Markell and DNREC Secretary David Small on Governor’s Day, Thursday, July 28, at the Delaware State Fair in Harrington. Awardees also will be recognized on the Delaware Wetlands website and social media sites. Information on submitting a nomination can be found on DNREC’s Delaware Wetland Warrior webpage. Nominations must be submitted by Friday, June 24.

Delaware has more than 320,000 acres of wetlands, comprising about 25 percent of the state’s area. Wetlands serve a vital role, protecting lives and property from the impacts of floods and storms, filtering pollutants and improving water quality, reducing erosion and providing critical habitat for fish and wildlife. Almost every part of our state is within one mile of a wetland – making wetland protection essential to our health and safety.

Wetland Warriors and Apprentices are a key element in the wetlands protection, restoration and education. For more information about Delaware’s wetlands or the awards program, please visit de.gov/delawarewetlands, view the Delaware Wetlands Fact Sheet, or contact Wetland Outreach Specialist Brittany Haywood at 302-739-9939 or Brittany.Haywood@delaware.gov.

Media Contact: Joanna Wilson, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902

Vol. 46, No. 110

DOVER – Almost one thousand hardy volunteers who turned out in the face of cold and snow for DNREC’s 27th Annual Beach Grass Planting March 19 enabled the planting this year of more than five miles of Delaware shoreline with Cape American beachgrass that helps protect and preserve the state’s dune system, the Division of Watershed Stewardship announced today.

American Cape beachgrass planting at a DNREC Annual Beach Grass Planting event on the Delaware coast“We had close to 1,000 volunteers who braved the cold northeast winds and came out to help,” said event coordinator Jennifer Luoma, DNREC Shoreline & Waterway Management Section. “An amazing turnout given the elements, and a great measure of the volunteer spirit – all to help preserve and make our shoreline more resilient for what the state faces with extreme weather events.”

She noted that volunteers planted in South Bethany, Bethany Beach, Delaware Seashore State Park, Dewey Beach, Rehoboth Beach, Cape Henlopen, Slaughter Beach and Bowers Beach – and “some residents in North Fenwick also planted on State Park land in front of their homes.”

A great percentage of the 150,000 2-stem Cape American beachgrass plugs available for volunteers this year were planted Saturday. The work continued with the better weather this week – “Since Saturday,” Ms. Luoma said, “a probation violator work crew, conservation technicians with the Shoreline and Waterway Management Section and the AmeriCorps NCCC Falcon 5 team all have been planting the remaining grass in South Bethany.”

Their efforts along with volunteers’ perseverance March 19 has brought the total grass planted since the inception of the beach grass event in 1990 to almost 5.2 million stems of Cape American beachgrass planted and helping to stabilize Delaware’s sand dunes along both the state’s ocean and bay beaches.

“The beach grass planting is among the state’s premier volunteer efforts – through good weather and bad, year after year, these dedicated volunteers turn out to put Delaware in a better place for adaptation and resiliency against sea level rise,” said DNREC Secretary David Small. “It’s an event of greater importance than getting plugs of beach grass in the ground to grace our beaches and dunes – and we’re thankful for the volunteers who acknowledge that importance in turning out for DNREC’s annual beach planting.”

Beach grass helps to build and stabilize dunes by trapping windblown sand. As the grass traps sand, it helps build the dunes higher and wider, which makes a dune more protective of the structures behind it. The Shoreline & Waterway Management Section also advises that beach grass has thick brittle stalks that can be easily broken and killed by pedestrian or vehicular traffic. The section also notes that recently-planted grasses, as went into the dunes during this year’s DNREC beach grass planting event, are very vulnerable to pedestrian traffic until dune fencing is installed.

Beach grass planting coordinator Ms. Luoma also expressed gratitude for sponsorship from Pepsi Co and Giant Foods in Ocean View for supplying beverages to volunteers; the Delaware Mobile Surf-Fishermen, Inc. for providing transportation on the beach along with refreshments; the Towns of Dewey Beach and Bowers Beach for providing restrooms, and Delaware State Parks for waiving fees for volunteers participating in the event.

Media Contact: Melanie Rapp, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902

Vol. 46, No. 97

2015 State Conservation Poster Contest winners announced

DOVER – A Kent County student was recently named the second place winner nationwide in the National Association of Conservation Districts’ (NACD) conservation poster contest, themed “Local Heroes – Your Hardworking Pollinators.” Maylene Drew Ferrin, a home-schooled 10th grader from Hartly, was Delaware’s state high school level winner in the Delaware Association of Conservation Districts (DACD) annual conservation poster contest, qualifying her colorful poster for entry in the national competition.

Ms. Ferrin’s poster was displayed with the other national winners at the NACD’s annual meeting last month in Reno, Nev. Next month, she will be presented with her framed winning poster at the DACD’s annual Governor’s Agricultural and Urban Conservation Awards on Wednesday, April 20 in Dover.

For 2015, the DACD’s annual state conservation poster contest was offered through the New Castle Conservation District and Kent Conservation District offices. First, second and third place winners in each grade category received a gift card valued at $50, $25 and $15 respectively. The first place state winners received an additional $50 cash prize from DACD. Posters were judged on use of color, attention to detail, an easy-to-understand conservation message, originality and creativity, along with correct use of the conservation theme.

The first place winners from New Castle and Kent counties were:

In addition to Ms. Ferrin’s poster, the other state winning posters from Delaware judged in the national contest were by Krish Bolar, Stephanie Strachar, Eason Li and Katherine Pupek.

Delaware’s poster contest also included a category for computer generated/graphic arts posters. Entries were received from two schools in New Castle County. The first place winner was Delaney Duricek from Delcastle High School, second place went to Donald Brooks from William Penn High School and third place went to Leslie Garcia from Delcastle High School.

Delaware’s annual conservation poster contest provides kindergarten through 12th grade students an opportunity to convey their thoughts about soil, water, and related natural resource issues through art. It also highlights the educational outreach efforts of conservation districts and their state associations, auxiliaries and agencies. The contest follows each year’s Soil and Water Stewardship Week theme, sponsored by the National Association of Conservation Districts. The 2015 pollinators theme encouraged people to remember the importance of pollinators to our food supply.

The 2016 conservation poster contest will focus on the theme “We All Need Trees.” The contest is open to K-12 students in public, charter, private or home schools. More information can be found at the NACD website at www.nacdnet.org under the Stewardship and Education page.

For more information about Delaware’s annual Conservation District Poster Contest, please contact Rick Mickowski, Public Education Coordinator, New Castle Conservation District, 302-832-3100 ext. 113.

For more information about Delaware’s Conservation Districts, please contact your local office:

• New Castle Conservation District, 302-832-3100
• Kent Conservation District at 302-741-2600
• Sussex Conservation District, 302-856-3990

Media Contact: Joanna Wilson, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902

Vol. 46, No. 85

Arden Village becomes 49th community in Delaware to participate in FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program

DOVER – The Village of Arden in New Castle County has become the latest Delaware community to participate in the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Flood Insurance Program, with flood insurance now available to property owners in the Village, DNREC’s Division of Watershed Stewardship announced today.

DNREC’s Flood Management Program assisted New Castle County in submitting the Village of Arden’s application to join the national flood insurance program and become the 49th community in the state to participate in the program. The Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) approved the village’s application to participate March 11.

With DNREC Flood Management Program guidance for getting NFIP coverage, the Village of Arden adopted floodplain regulations that contain many of the higher standards that were recommended by Senate Bill 64. The community will now require 18 inches of freeboard for all new construction and substantially improved structures.

FEMA’s flood insurance rate maps indicate where the floodplain boundaries are located and the areas of greatest flood risk. Delaware residents can find the maps on DNREC’s website at maps.dnrec.delaware.gov/navmap/.

Lenders must require borrowers whose properties are located in a designated Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA) to purchase flood insurance as a condition of receiving a federally- backed mortgage loan in accordance with the Federal Disaster Protection Act of 1973. Property owners not located within an SFHA can voluntarily purchase flood insurance from any agent or broker licensed to do business in Delaware. There is generally a 30-day waiting period before a newly-purchased flood insurance policy goes into effect. DNREC’s Flood Management Program advises that you contact your insurance company for any exceptions to this policy.

Residents of the Village of Arden will be able to purchase flood insurance up to the limits under the regular phase of the program. For single family dwellings, the standard policy building coverage limit is $250,000, and the contents coverage limit is $100,000.

FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program boats more than 5.5 million flood insurance policies in more than 22,000 participating communities nationwide.

Media Contact: Michael Globetti, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902

Vol. 46, No. 86

DOVER – DNREC Secretary David Small has issued a Secretary’s Order for closure of a conditionally-approved shellfish harvest area located in the northeastern corner of Rehoboth Bay, effective Monday, March 21. The order notes that the area designated for closure is near the City of Rehoboth Waste Water Treatment Plant, but makes clear that the decision by DNREC’s Shellfish Program to recommend closure was based on an assessment of theoretical waste water discharge dilutions from the US Food and Drug Administration – and not on water quality changes in the area.

A review by DNREC’s Shellfish Program in the Division of Watershed Stewardship determined that the conditionally-approved seasonal area on Rehoboth Bay no longer meets conditions to allow seasonal harvesting, according to the FDA’s recently-revised theoretical wastewater discharge dilution criteria. The previous seasonal classification, from Dec. 1 through April 15, was based on adjacent marina use and historic low wastewater effluent discharge levels during winter months from the Rehoboth Wastewater Treatment Plant. The plant discharges to the Lewes & Rehoboth Canal, which connects at the northeast corner of Rehoboth Bay.

The Secretary’s Order notes that seasonal and prohibited shellfish areas are intended to act as buffers to allow for safe shellfish harvesting within a growing area. Shellfish waters are classified based on the assumption that shellfish may be eaten raw, and these buffers are an effective method of mitigating any impacts to water quality from potential pollution sources.

The area closed by the Secretary’s Order – to be clearly marked by signs posted by DNREC’s Shellfish Program – consists of “areas north of a line drawn from the tip of White Oak Point in a southeasterly direction to a point identified as being directly west of the south submarine observation tower at Delaware Seashore State Park, and south of the Lewes and Rehoboth Canal mouth, then in an easterly direction to the south submarine observation tower,” according to Michael Bott, DNREC Shellfish Program environmental scientist.

Shellfish harvesting classifications for all Delaware waters can be found on the DNREC website’s Delaware Shellfish Program webpage. An interactive map on the webpage allows users to locate their exact location on the shellfish map with the use of a smartphone or tablet. For those who do not use or have personal devices, DNREC also posts notification signs for identifying shellfish harvest area boundaries.

The Secretary’s Order for the shellfish area closure can be found on the DNREC website at http://www.dnrec.delaware.gov/Info/Pages/SecOrders_Regulations.aspx.

Media Contact: Michael Globetti, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902

Vol. 46, No. 73