DOVER – DNREC’s Division of Watershed Stewardship announced today that revised FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Maps in portions of New Castle County will become effective Jan. 22. The revisions were made by DNREC through a cooperating technical partnership with FEMA, and include more than 96 miles of streams in areas at risk of flooding. Revised mapping is concentrated in the Brandywine-Christina Watershed, but includes streams throughout New Castle County.

Flood risks are generally increasing over time due to factors such as watershed development and sea level rise. Updating FEMA’s Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) mapping to reflect current conditions is a critical way to depict these changing risks. Accurate maps give communities the tools they need to improve their resiliency to flood risk, and help consumers make informed decisions about flood insurance purchases.

Hydrologic studies that determine floodwater flows, base flood elevations, and more accurate floodplain boundaries, were performed by DNREC in parts of New Castle County that had been previously identified to have inaccurate floodplain maps. With these results, base flood elevations for many areas are now shown on FEMA’s maps for the first time, providing property owners with more detailed and accurate flood risk assessments.

Standard property insurance does not cover flood damage. FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program makes flood insurance available to local property owners. Mortgage lenders require borrowers whose properties are located in designated special flood hazard areas (SFHAs) to purchase flood insurance as a condition of receiving a federally-backed mortgage loan. For structures that are newly mapped into the SFHA, property owners are eligible for a lower-cost preferred risk policy, if they purchase a policy during the first 12 months after the FIRMs are revised. Rates will then increase no more than 18 percent per year, until they reach the full-risk rate. For properties that are newly removed from the SFHA, property owners may convert their high-risk policy to a preferred risk policy, resulting in a lower premium.

For more information on the revised FIRMs, contact Gina Tonn, Division of Watershed Stewardship, at 302-739-9921. To view the maps online, DNREC’s flood mapping tool is available at de.gov/floodplanning.

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

Hunting opportunities offered at many state wildlife areas

DOVER – Numerous Delaware hunting seasons open in October, including Sunday firearm deer hunting opportunities, DNREC’s Division of Fish & Wildlife announced today. Deer hunting is allowed on all Sundays through the end of the deer season on Feb. 2, 2020, using only those hunting methods legal for the respective, established deer hunting seasons. Please refer to Sunday Hunting webpage for Sunday deer hunting information, including hunting opportunities on state wildlife areas.

Hunting seasons opening in October:

• Snow goose: Oct. 1-Jan. 31, 2020, and Feb. 8, 2020
• Antlerless deer: Oct. 4-6, 21, and 25-28, including Sundays
• Muzzleloader deer: Oct. 11-20, including Sundays
• Youth Waterfowl Hunt: Oct. 19
• Ducks, coots, and mergansers: first season split Oct. 25-Nov. 6
• Tundra swan, only by permit issued through a pre-season lottery, Oct. 25-Jan. 31, 2020

Continuing hunting seasons include:

• Moorhen, gallinule, sora, Virginia rail, king rail, and clapper rail: through Nov. 21
• Common snipe: through Nov. 30
• Archery and crossbow deer: through Feb. 2, 2020, including all Sundays
• Gray squirrel: through Feb. 1, 2020 (closed during November shotgun deer season)
• Coyote hunting season: through Feb. 28, 2020
• Crows: through Mar. 31, 2020 (Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays only)
• Groundhog: through June 30, 2020

DNREC’s Division of Fish & Wildlife offers many hunting opportunities on state wildlife areas. Wildlife area maps and rules are available at Wildlife Area Hunting Maps.

A Delaware hunting license or License Exempt Number (LEN) is required to hunt, and most waterfowl hunters require a Delaware waterfowl (duck) stamp. More information on hunting license and Delaware waterfowl stamp requirements is available at Delaware Licenses. Waterfowl and other migratory game bird (except crow) hunters will need a Federal Harvest Information Program (HIP) number. To register for a LEN number or HIP number, hunters can go to Delaware Hunter and Trapper Registration or call toll free 1-855-335-4868. For hunters age 16 and older, a federal migratory bird stamp is also required to hunt waterfowl.

To purchase a hunting license, either in person or online, hunters born on or after Jan. 1, 1967, must have a basic hunter education safety course card/number. Hunters who took a Delaware hunter safety course starting in 2008 can print their hunter safety card by going to http://de.gov/huntersafety. Hunters who took their Delaware hunter safety course before 2008 should call the Hunter Education Office at 302-735-3600, ext. 1 to obtain a hunter safety card.

Registered motor vehicles used to access designated wildlife areas owned or managed by the Division of Fish & Wildlife are required to display a Conservation Access Pass (CAP). Hunters can opt to receive one free annual CAP with the purchase of any Delaware hunting license. To obtain a CAP, hunters will need the registration card for the vehicle to which the pass will be assigned.

Delaware hunting licenses, Delaware waterfowl stamps, and Conservation Access Passes can be purchased online at Delaware Licenses, at the license desk in DNREC’s Dover office at 89 Kings Highway, Dover, DE 19901, or from hunting license agents statewide. Federal migratory bird stamps are available at U.S. Post Offices, Bombay Hook and Prime Hook national wildlife refuges, and online at Federal duck stamps.

For more information on hunting, click 2019-2020 Delaware Hunting & Trapping Guide and Wildlife Area Hunting Maps. Hard copies of guide and newly-updated hunting maps are also available at the license desk in DNREC’s Dover office. More information on hunting licenses, season details, and the Conservation Access Pass is also available by calling the DNREC Division of Fish & Wildlife’s Wildlife Section office at 302-739-9912.

Follow the Division of Fish & Wildlife on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/DelawareFishWildlife.

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

Vol. 49, No. 237

DOVER – Hunters and other wildlife area users are reminded that state wildlife area maps with updated regulations and access information for each wildlife area are available for the 2019/2020 hunting season, DNREC’s Division of Fish & Wildlife announced today. The maps depict area boundaries, parking areas, deer stand and waterfowl blind locations, trails, wildlife-viewing facilities, and other helpful information.

Several new wildlife area properties are open for public access, particularly on the Eagles Nest, Cedar Swamp, and Tappahanna wildlife areas.

The maps and area-specific regulations are available online at Delaware Wildlife Area Maps. Paper copies of the maps are available at DNREC’s Dover licensing desk in the Richardson & Robbins Building, 89 Kings Highway, Dover, DE 19901. Licensing desk customers may take up to five printed maps of individual wildlife areas free of charge. A complete set of statewide maps costs $5 to purchase at the licensing desk, or $6 by mail.

Registered motor vehicles used to access designated wildlife areas owned or managed by the Division of Fish & Wildlife are required to display a Conservation Access Pass (CAP). Hunters can opt to receive one free annual CAP with the purchase of any Delaware hunting license. To obtain a CAP, hunters will need the registration card for the vehicle to which the pass will be assigned. Additional information is available at Conservation Access Pass.

Information on 2019/2020 hunting and trapping seasons, bag limits, and other helpful information is available at 2019-2020 Delaware Hunting and Trapping Guide. Hard copy guides are available from DNREC’s licensing desk and from license agents throughout the state.

For more information, please call the DNREC Division of Fish & Wildlife’s Wildlife Section at 302-739-9912.

Follow DNREC’s Division of Fish & Wildlife on Facebook, www.facebook.com/DelawareFishWildlife.

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

Vol. 49, No. 227

DOVER – The DNREC Division of Watershed Stewardship’s Flood Management Program reminds residents of New Castle County that preliminary Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) for portions of New Castle County released in December 2016 and revised in May 2018 by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will begin a 90-day regulatory appeal period Friday, Dec. 14 through Wednesday, March 13, 2019.

To see if your property is located in one of the areas with preliminary FIRMs, please review DNREC’s website at www.de.gov/floodplanning. Anyone who believes that the preliminary maps may contain errors can submit an appeal to their community floodplain administrator. The floodplain administrator will review and consolidate all appeals before forwarding them to FEMA. Once FEMA has reviewed appeals and made a determination on their validity, the agency will issue a Letter of Final Determination to community representatives, and the floodplain administrator. The preliminary maps will become effective six months after the Letter of Final Determination.

FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program makes flood insurance available to local property owners. Mortgage lenders require borrowers whose properties are located in a designated special flood hazard area to purchase flood insurance as a condition of receiving a federally backed mortgage loan in accordance with the Federal Disaster Protection Act of 1973. FEMA’s flood risk maps are used by insurance companies to establish insurance rates and by local communities to enforce local floodplain codes.

For more information on the flood risk maps, please contact Michael Powell, Division of Watershed Stewardship, at 302-739-9921. For information on DNREC’s flood mitigation program, please visit DNREC’s website at http://www.dnrec.delaware.gov/swc/Drainage/Pages/Flooding.aspx.

Contact: Joanna Wilson or Michael Globetti, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902.

Vol. 48, No. 332

DOVER – Delaware’s spring turkey hunting season opens Saturday, April 14, and runs through Saturday, May 12, DNREC’s Division of Fish & Wildlife announced today, with hunters aiming to capitalize on the month-long season by bagging a gobbler afield from among the state’s thriving wild turkey population. Hunting hours are a half-hour before sunrise until 1 p.m., Monday through Saturday.

Also, a special statewide one-day hunt for youth ages 10-15 and for disabled hunters using a wheelchair for mobility will be held Saturday, April 7. Young hunters must be accompanied by an adult 21 years of age or older who has completed a Delaware-approved turkey hunter safety class, and who has a Delaware hunting license or is license-exempt. The accompanying adult may not hunt.

Hunters are reminded that only bearded birds may be taken, and that all harvested birds must be checked at an authorized turkey check station by 2:30 p.m. on the day of the hunt. Bag limit is one bearded turkey per hunter each year.

All hunters that are 13 years of age or older must have a junior or adult hunting license or License Exempt Number (LEN) and successfully completed a mandatory turkey education class before they can legally hunt wild turkeys in Delaware. Turkey hunters also are required to carry their Hunter Education/Turkey Education card certifying successful completion of the mandatory turkey course. Hunters under the age of 13 must have a LEN.

Except during the special hunt for youth and disabled hunters, hunting on State Wildlife Areas and State Forests is by preseason lottery permit only. Hunters must carry their public land permit while hunting and may only hunt the designated area and season segment/dates specified on their permit. Hunters participating during the special hunt for youth and disabled hunters on April 7 may hunt on private land with permission or state wildlife areas and state forests that are open to turkey hunting during the regular season.

To hunt wild turkeys on public land in Delaware, hunters must have entered a lottery from which public land permits were drawn. Delaware’s wild turkey season is broken down into four week-long segments, this year spanning April 14 thru May 12. Turkey hunters were drawn via the lottery system and issued a permit in January. Applications for the 2019 Public Land Turkey Hunt can be found in the upcoming 2018/2019 Hunting and Trapping Guide. The public land hunt permit allows a hunter to hunt a designated public land area during a specified one-week segment.

For a list of check stations, click on 2018 Turkey Check Stations. Check station hours may vary, so hunters are advised to call the station where they are likely to check a bird to confirm the hours of operation. Hunters who want to have their bird scored and entered into the National Wild Turkey Federation records are reminded to have their bird’s live weight recorded on a certified scale. If the check station does not have a certified scale, hunters will be directed to another station to have the turkey re-weighed.

The Division of Fish & Wildlife reminds hunters that, new this year, registered motor vehicles used to access designated public lands owned or managed by the Division of Fish & Wildlife are required to display a Delaware Conservation Access Pass (CAP). Hunters can opt to receive one free annual vehicle pass with the purchase of any Delaware hunting license. To obtain a free CAP, or to purchase an additional pass, hunters will need to have the registration card for the vehicle to which the pass will be assigned.

Hunting licenses and conservation access passes are sold online, at the licensing desk in DNREC’s Richardson & Robbins Building, 89 Kings Highway, Dover, and by license agents statewide. To find a participating agent, or to purchase a license online, visit Delaware Licenses. For additional information on Delaware hunting licenses, call 302-739-9918.

For more information on hunting in Delaware, click on 2017/2018 Delaware Hunting and Trapping Guide. The guide also is available in printed form at DNREC’s Dover licensing desk, and from license agents throughout the state. For more information about public lands that allow turkey hunting, click Wildlife Area Hunting Maps or State Forest Maps.

Vol. 48, No. 70

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