LEWES – Visitors to Cape Henlopen State Park are advised that certain areas of the park, including parts of the park’s bike loop, will be closed for 10 days from May 16 – 25, due to construction activities within the Fort Miles area of the park. Closed will be the main road into the Fort Miles Historic area, the fort’s main parking lot and about a half-mile of the paved bike loop passing through Fort Miles. Other sections of the bike loop will remain open.

Media Contact: Beth Shockley, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902

Vol. 46, No. 161

DOVER – DNREC’s Division of Parks & Recreation will host a public open house on the proposed Tri-Valley Trail in the Possum Hill Area of White Clay Creek State Park. The Open House will be held 4:30 – 7:30 p.m., Monday, April 4, at the Deerfield Golf and Tennis Club, 507 Thompson Station Road, Newark, DE 19711.

The Division of Parks & Recreation proposes to fill a gap in a regional trail system by constructing approximately 2.8 miles of the Tri-Valley Trail, and adding two new trailhead parking sites. The trail will immediately connect Paper Mill Park, a heavily visited New Castle County Park.

Portions of the Tri-Valley Trail are open and in use in New Castle County parks and Newark parks. When combined with other trails, the proposed Tri-Valley Trail would become part of an 18-mile regional network of recreational trails in Greater Newark. Project information is available online at www.destateparks.com/TriValleyTrail.

Visitors at the open house can view proposed trail alignment options and related information including natural and cultural resource conditions, regional trail maps, and trail and trailhead construction details. Parks staff will be available to provide additional information.

More trails for walking, hiking, biking, jogging and related activities rank consistently as the highest outdoor recreation need identified by Delawareans throughout the state. In addition, trail networks promote healthy lifestyles and take cars off the road, reducing air pollution and traffic. The Tri-Valley Trail will offer an opportunity for families and children to be outdoors, enjoy nature and be physically active.

This trail project is part of Governor Markell’s First State Trails and Pathways Initiative that expands a statewide network of new and enhanced trails and pathways for walking, biking, hiking and active living.

For more information on the open house, contact Susan Moerschel, Division of Parks & Recreation at 302-739-9240 or Susan.Moerschel@delaware.gov.

Media Contact: Beth Shockley, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902

Vol. 46, No.103

Trail improvements also announced

WILMINGTON – The Nemours Foundation has donated nearly 46 acres of significant forestland to the DNREC Division of Parks and Recreation’s Alapocas Run State Park, located just outside Wilmington. The announcement was made today by Governor Jack Markell, DNREC Secretary David Small and Dr. Roy Proujansky, the Nemours Foundation’s chief executive of Delaware Valley Operations.

“Alapocas Run State Park is truly an amazing urban oasis to be enjoyed not only by the residents of Wilmington, but also for visitors from the tri-state area and beyond,” said Governor Jack Markell. “This generous donation by the Nemours Foundation, along with newly upgraded trails, will enable more people to experience the beauty and benefits of nature close to where they live and work, strengthening our quality of life while supporting continued economic growth.”

“Alfred I. du Pont understood the healing and therapeutic benefits of nature, for both children and their families,” said Dr. Roy Proujansky, chief executive of Delaware Valley Operations and Executive Vice President of The Nemours Foundation. “As stewards of Mr. du Pont’s legacy, it is fitting then that these lands be transferred to the state of Delaware and improved for the enjoyment of the community. We applaud Governor Markell and his administration for their continued partnership and tireless efforts to promote healthy living and a more walkable and bikeable Delaware.”

“With this generous addition of this lush, scenic park land, residents and visitors alike have even more opportunities to enjoy the diversity of trails that are more accessible, the Can-do playground, and all of the dozens of other amenities the park offers,” said DNREC Secretary David Small. “Alapocas Run State Park is a peaceful gem in an urban setting, providing a variety of activities and preserves a lasting natural legacy that enhances the quality of life for residents and users. It’s a special place to connect with nature and provide respite.”

In addition to the land donation, a section of the Northern Delaware Greenway Trail (part of the East Coast Greenway trail that goes from Maine to Florida) and a section of the Bancroft Trail have been upgraded to a paved surface, providing more accessibility and more year-round use and the opportunity to enjoy the mature woods and the rest of Alapocas Run State Park.

The two upgraded trail sections total about one mile. The Greenway Trail goes through Nemours Woods and connects the Delaware River to Brandywine Creek, passing through Bellevue State Park to Bringhurst Woods and Rockwood county parks to Wilmington’s Rock Manor Golf Course to Alapocas Run State Park.

The Bancroft Trail connects Alapocas Run State Park to Brandywine Park and the Brandywine Zoo. It passes through the Brandywine Park Condominiums, Wilmington Friends School and the Augustine Professional Building properties. These owners generously granted a trail easement through their lands in the 2000s.

“The Environmental Protection Agency is committed to supporting these types of collaborations that protect and preserve precious greenspace,” said EPA Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Shawn M. Garvin. “It truly demonstrates the successful partnership the Nemours Foundation has with the state of Delaware in making a visible difference in our local communities.”

Nemours’ donation is part of a working partnership with Delaware State Parks that dates back more than 20 years. In the 1990s, a collaborative effort was begun to protect more public open space land along Brandywine Creek and around the City of Wilmington, by combining the resources of the city, county, state and the newly-created Delaware Greenways.

Through the state’s Open Space Program, Alapocas Run State Park began with an acquisition and land donation along Brandywine Creek. The state also assumed management of some city-owned parkland. At the same time the state, county, and city came together, along with the business community and area residents, to tackle a complex plan to realign Route 202 while maintaining the Rock Manor Golf Course and keeping and expanding the AstraZeneca pharmaceutical business in its current location.

During this very active time, Nemours and the Nemours Foundation were key players in many aspects of the overall project. Not only did they continue to run the world-renowned Alfred I. du Pont Hospital for Children and the Nemours Mansion & Gardens, the Nemours Foundation also provided land for a daycare center for the AstraZeneca employees and for road expansion. The foundation also provided valuable insight and information on the historic Blue Ball Barn, formerly part of the A.I. du Pont estate, now owned by Delaware State Parks.

A critical recreation component of this complicated project was a connection from Blue Ball Barn to Brandywine Creek through the Nemours Woods. This area was always recognized as an important landscape feature, protected and maintained by the A.I. du Pont family and then the Nemours Foundation. In 1999 the Nemours Foundation donated a conservation easement of more than 70 acres of this wooded area. It ensured that the area would not be developed and enabled a public use trail. Today’s announcement reflects the donation of 46 of these acres the State, while retaining the remaining 24 acres under conservation easement.

Media Contact: Beth Shockley, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902

Vol. 45, No. 407

For the first time ever, recreational trail users and active trail transportation commuters are gathering together for the Heels and Wheels Delaware Walk & Bike Summit 2014. The summit, designed to bring walkers, hikers, bicycle and mountain bike riders, and runners together for an educational conference, is being held at the University of Delaware’s Clayton Hall in Newark.

“The evidence is clear that many economic benefits come with trail development,” said Governor Jack Markell. “They improve quality of life, make Delaware a more attractive place to live, and help support businesses. We’ve made progress creating new and better trails and pathways, whether for recreation or commuting, and this summit will help us keep that effort moving forward.”

The summit will bring together some 250 participants, including trail commuters, recreational trail users, trail managers, businesses and planners.

“Today’s conference is a great opportunity to further integrate our goals of providing  viable transportation alternatives for connecting people with their jobs, schools  and other destinations, while concurrently offering wonderful recreational opportunities to our citizens and visitors that can contribute to healthier lifestyles,” said DNREC Secretary Collin O’Mara. “With Governor Markell’s leadership and working with our many partners in local and state government, the private sector and non-profit organizations, we have made huge strides in making these goals real. I am extremely grateful to all of today’s participants and their many and varied contributions to this effort, and look forward to our future successes together.”

“At DelDOT, we are committed to the idea that bicycling and walking are important pieces of the transportation network, and an important investment for our state’s future,” said DelDOT Secretary Shailen Bhatt. “We are not just about building roads. We are about providing other alternatives, creating and sustaining walkable, bikeable communities where multiple modes of transportation safely work together as the ideal transportation system.”

The summit’s keynote speaker is Dan Burden, a leading national expert on planning sustainable communities for walking and bicycling. Burden, Executive Director of the Walkable and Livable Communities Institute, has spent more than 35 years getting the world “back on its feet,” by helping 3,500 communities become more livable and walkable.

“Delaware’s transportation for the future will create greater discovery, pleasure and exchange,” said Burden. “We’ll see stronger hearts and less stewing and sitting.”

Burden’s efforts have not only earned him the first-ever lifetime achievement award issued by the New Partners for Smart Growth and the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals, but in 2001, he was named by TIME magazine as “one of the six most important civic innovators in the world.”

The Heels & Wheels Summit is a collaboration of the Delaware Recreation & Parks Society; DNREC’s Division of Parks and Recreation; DelDOT Planning; the Delaware Bicycle Council; the Dover/Kent County Metropolitan Planning Organization;  the Wilmington Area Planning Council; and Nemours Health and Prevention Services.

Trail is vital link in Governor Markell’s First State Trails and Pathways Initiative

Dover – Governor Jack Markell, Department of Transportation (DelDOT) Secretary Shailen Bhatt, Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) Secretary Collin O’Mara, and Dover Mayor Carleton Carey are pleased to announce the completion of Phase 1 of the Capital City Trails project in Dover.

“We’re making our state a better place for walking and biking,” said Governor Jack Markell.  “One pathway at a time, we are improving Delaware’s quality of life and attractiveness to businesses by creating safe and scenic pathways for people to use.  When families want a great place to live and businesses want a great place to locate, we want them to look at communities like Dover.”

The first phase of the project includes a continuous walkway from Public Safety Boulevard, along the west side of U.S. Route 13, to the south side of Martin Luther King Boulevard and crosses in front of Legislative Hall.  The new pathway is ten feet wide with landscaping and lighting consistent with historic downtown Dover.

“As part of our long term efforts to provide transportation options, as well as reduce vehicle emissions and improve air quality, we’re providing more opportunities for bicycle and pedestrian travel in the Capital City.  We’re expanding our network by connecting existing bike and pedestrian pathways in the area and improving safety for all users,” said DelDOT Secretary Shailen Bhatt.

The Capital City Trail in Dover’s pathways and trails system connects to the existing Silver Lake Trail at Division Street, continuing to Legislative Hall and along Court Street to the Public Safety Boulevard Pathway and the Isaacs Branch Trail. When completed, this trails and pathways system will extend a total of 4.5 miles in greater Dover – safely connecting city residents, visitors, and workers to parks, historic attractions, government offices, the Dover Air Force Base, schools, and businesses.

“The Capital City Trail fills a gap in trail work completed several years ago by the City of Dover on the St. Jones River Trail funded by local legislative Community Transportation Funds, as well as Kent County’s Isaac Branch Greenway Trail that was created with grant assistance from DNREC’s local Land & Water Conservation Trust Fund Grant Program,” said DNREC Secretary Collin O’Mara. “Together this network not only provides residents better community connections for walking and biking, but brings us another step closer to realizing Governor Markell’s vision of offering tremendous recreational and physical fitness opportunities in every part of our state.”

Mayor Carey stated, “This is a great milestone, with the completion of Phase 1 and moving on to Phase 2 – many people will see this project as a way to promote healthy living and will appreciate it as a user friendly means to get around our community.”

Phase 2 of the project will connect the pathway from Legislative Hall to Loockerman Street and is scheduled to being construction in spring 2014. Construction on Phase 3, which will connect the pathway from Loockerman Street to Park Drive is expected to begin the following fall.

The Capital City Trail is part of the Governor’s First State Trails and Pathways Initiative that creates a world-class statewide network of new and enhanced trails and pathways for residents and visitors to enjoy walking, biking, hiking, and active living. The Initiative has far-reaching advantages – boosting Delaware’s economy, benefitting local businesses, and promoting the continued growth of the state’s recreation and tourism industries. By offering people a place to walk, run or ride, trails and pathways allow them to connect with the outdoors and encourages healthier, more active lifestyles.

Governor Markell’s First State Trails and Pathways Initiative is a partnership led by the Department of Transportation and the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control with regional and local organization and government partners.

 For more information, please visit www.trails.delaware.gov