Delaware State Parks has announced closures of facilities at Cape Henlopen State Park and at Holts Landing State Park.

End of Cape Henlopen Fishing Pier Closes

DNREC’s Division of Parks and Recreation announced today it has closed a 20-foot portion of the Cape Henlopen fishing pier indefinitely due to ice damage that occurred this winter. The area closed encompasses an approximately 20-foot section of the end of the pier. Engineers evaluated the extent of the damage and determined that the end of the pier must be closed immediately.

Holts Landing Boat Ramp Closes

The Division also announced it will close the boat ramp and adjacent parking lot at Holts Landing State Park later this month on weekdays while renovations are made to improve the parking lot and add 36 new boat trailer parking spaces. The boat ramp is scheduled to be closed during the week while construction is underway but will be open on weekends. Closures will begin in mid-April and are estimated to continue until late May, weather permitting.

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

DOVER – Due to weather predictions, DNREC’s Division of Parks & Recreation announced today it will postpone the public open house scheduled for March 21 to review the Cape Henlopen State Park Trail Concept Plan. The open house will be re-scheduled at a later date.

DOVER – Delaware’s Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) and Department of Agriculture (DDA) will conduct a joint public hearing Monday, March 12 on proposed regulations for possessing firearms in Delaware’s state parks and wildlife areas under DNREC’s authority and state forests under DDA’s authority. The hearing will begin at 6 p.m. in DNREC’s Richardson & Robbins Auditorium, 89 Kings Highway, Dover, DE 19901.

With the intent of promulgating new firearms regulations to comply with the Dec. 7, 2017 Delaware Supreme Court decision in Bridgeville Rifle & Pistol Club v. DNREC, which invalidated portions of previously existing DNREC and DDA regulations governing firearms, both state agencies proposed regulations governing possession of firearms within Delaware’s state parks, state wildlife areas and state forests.

DNREC and DDA held public workshops last month in all three counties in advance of the March 12 public hearing. The hearing record on the proposed amendments opened Feb. 1 and will remain open until 4:30 p.m. March 27. Comments on the proposed regulations will be accepted by US mail addressed to: Lisa Vest, Hearing Officer, DNREC, 89 Kings Highway, Dover, DE 19901 and by email sent to Lisa.Vest@delaware.gov. Comments also may be presented either orally or in writing at the March 12 public hearing.

The proposed amendments are available for public view at DNREC’s offices at 89 Kings Highway, Dover, DE 19901 or DDA’s offices at 2320 South DuPont Highway, Dover, DE 19901. They can also be found on DNREC’s website and in the Feb. 1, 2018 edition of the Delaware Register of Regulations.

For more information on the proposed firearms regulations, including an overview of the proposed changes, an interactive map that shows proposed firearm possession areas within parks, forests, and wildlife area properties, please visit the DNREC website.

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

DOVER – Citizen coders and civic technologists from across Delaware are set to take on the state’s second annual Open Data Challenge, harnessing the power of public datasets to come up with new solutions to big statewide problems.

Coordinated by Open Data Delaware and the Department of State’s Government Information Center, ODC18 is a series of events and workshops that will allow participants to review and analyze information hosted on the state’s Open Data Portal, then design new apps, websites or programs that will put the data to good use. Teams with the best ideas and the most promising prototypes will be eligible for grant funding to allow them to continue their work.

“The Challenge is designed to get people to think differently about solving problems in our communities,” said Secretary of State Jeff Bullock. “We’re encouraging a new way of approaching citizen engagement, collaboration and innovation based on the public data collected by state government.”

For ODC18, two of the state’s largest public agencies, the Department of Transportation and the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, have posed a simple question: How can we make sure that all Delawareans have full access to our state’s public forests, beaches and parks – and that they know which roads, buses, trails and bike routes can take them there?

“Delaware has so many recreational options across the state, and we want to make sure everyone who has a desire to visit these destinations has the ability to do so,” said Secretary of Transportation Jennifer Cohan. “Partnering with DNREC and Open Data Delaware, we can harness the creative energy of anyone who would like to participate and offer their ideas.”

“We use the Open Data Portal to share data and information about the natural resources the Department manages,” said DNREC Secretary Shawn M. Garvin. “We are excited to join DelDOT and other partners in this challenge and take the next step toward full public use of our data. We can learn more about how people enjoy Delaware’s great outdoors and our outstanding recreational opportunities. We will find new partners, in and outside of government, and we will gain new perspectives that will help us do our jobs better.”

Examples of the datasets that ODC18 participants could use for their projects include traffic counts and bus schedules, and maps of bike routes, public lands and nature preserves – all available via the state’s Open Data Portal at data.delaware.gov or the GIS Mapping Tool, firstmap.delaware.gov.

The launch of this year’s Challenge was coupled with Gov. John Carney’s signing of Executive Order 18, which gives executive branch agencies until Sept. 30 to deliver an inventory of new data sets that can be added to the portal.

The first major event in the ODC18 series is an “Ideation Session” scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 25, hosted by the Horn Program in Entrepreneurship at the University of Delaware. The Challenge culminates in May after a month-long Data Jam where teams will take what they’ve learned from Delaware’s data and design prototype solutions to address the challenge prompt.

Challenge teams will be eligible for a total of $32,000 in grant funding, contributed by DelDOT and DNREC, including a top prize of $20,000 for any prototype that combines data from both agencies and serves to advance each of their missions. Tech Impact, a nationwide nonprofit that helps community groups develop and use technology, will administer the grant awards.

“Last year I saw firsthand the social innovation that was unlocked by the use of these data sets,” said Patrick Callahan, executive director of Tech Impact. “Gov. Carney’s recent executive order to expand the data sets, coupled with this year’s Open Data Challenge, will surely allow that innovation to continue. It will be really exciting to watch as this year’s competition focuses on using some of the new data to focus on developing civic solutions.”

For more information on the 2018 Open Data Challenge watch this short video and visit opendatachallenge.com.

LEWES – Against the backdrop of the ceremonial lighting of the World War Two-era Tower 3 at Delaware Seashore State Park, Governor John Carney, DNREC Secretary Shawn M. Garvin and other officials today lauded the positive economic impact DNREC’s Division of Parks & Recreation has in Delaware. Gov. Carney announced the results of the first-ever independent economic impact study of Delaware’s 16 state parks.

The study, conducted by Rockport Analytics, shows that in FY2016, nearly $400 million was generated by out-of-state park visitors, with spending assessed at about $245 per visitor on various goods and services in the state.

“The economic impact of our state parks on our economy is tremendous,” said Gov. Carney. “Our state parks provide Delawareans and visitors with fun things to do, but also support nearly 6,700 full and part-time jobs across the state and made a significant contribution to state and local taxes. We are proud of our state parks and their positive impact on the economy and quality of life in Delaware.”

The study also shows that:

• For every dollar of operating general fund tax dollar support state parks receive, $40 was returned in economic activity. That is more than the return of neighboring states, including Maryland ($18), Virginia ($13), and Pennsylvania ($12).
• If there were no Delaware state parks system, each Delaware household would need to pay an average of $151 in additional state and local taxes in order to maintain current levels of tax receipts.
• In 2016, nearly $53 million in state and local taxes were generated by the parks system, including $12 million in hotel taxes, $4.7 million in income taxes and $9.5 million in property taxes.

“These statistics support our belief that our parks are a significant economic engine for Delaware,” said DNREC Secretary Shawn M. Garvin. “The figures show that every time someone visits a state park, they are not only enjoying Delaware’s recreational opportunities, but they are also contributing to the state’s economy. Every dollar the State invests comes back by a multiple of 40 in economic activity in Delaware. Most importantly, parks visitors can be assured that they are supporting all of the amazing programs that our parks provide.”

Tower 3 is one of the landmark concrete WWII-era fire towers used for Delaware’s coastal defense. During the announcement, nine cobalt lights surrounding the tower at the park were lit, the color intended to match the lights on the Indian River Bridge, and to help birds navigate around them.

Ten years in the making, the restoration of Tower 3 was a partnership among the Fort Miles Historical Association, the Delaware Seashore Preservation Foundation and DNREC’s Division of Parks & Recreation. The foundation provided $130,000 in startup funds, while the association provided the manpower with its “Bunker Busters” cleanup crew. The $60,000 restoration includes new pavement and the large lights around the base of the tower.

The foundation seeks to raise more funds to complete the restoration project; members officially kicked off a fundraising campaign during the event. Members were recently informed by the Longwood Foundation that it will provide a $130,000 matching grant to continue restoration efforts. The foundation now aims to raise another $300,000 to install a staircase inside the tower to provide further access for the public.

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

Vol. 48, No. 27

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