Governor Carney and DNREC Secretary Shawn M. Garvin attended the inaugural Delaware Youth Environmental Summit (YES!) in 2020 /DNREC photo

The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control is supporting the third annual Delaware Youth Environmental Summit (YES!) on Thursday, April 14 with sponsorship and a keynote address by Secretary Shawn M. Garvin, and additional presentations by DNREC staff.

The student-led conference will be held at the University of Delaware’s Clayton Hall Conference Center in Newark and is offered free of charge, with lunch included, for Delaware high school students and educators who are advisors to school teams. Preregistration is open through April 8 at DelawareYES.org. Attendance is limited.

“Some refer to today’s young people as ‘the environmental stewards of tomorrow,’” said Secretary Garvin. “I believe they are the environmental leaders of today, and DNREC is proud to support events like YES! that seek to empower the younger generation with the tools and information to become even more effective advocates for our natural world.”

Planned by students, YES! aims to inspire youth-led action and environmental leadership through keynote speakers, breakout workshops, and nonprofit and agency exhibitors. In addition to Secretary Garvin, guest speakers include U.S. Congresswoman Lisa Blunt-Rochester, Governor John Carney (invited), Delaware Senator Stephanie Hansen, Sierra Club President Ramón Cruz, and Andrew Fagerheim, climate advocate and Columbia University student. Topics include pathways to green schools, renewable energy, factory farming, reducing plastic in schools, environmental justice, climate resiliency, electric vehicles, our diet’s impact on climate change, and environmental advocacy.

“Our goal is to inform, inspire, activate, and empower students for environmental change,” said Neha Veeragandham, lead student organizer for YES!, from Charter School of Wilmington.

Now in its third year, YES! was created by a coalition of representatives from educators at Delaware schools, non-profit environmental organizations, and public agencies to provide the opportunity for teens to meet, learn, and share their ideas on environmental issues of concern. The inaugural conference in February 2020 was attended by student teams from more than 20 Delaware schools representing all three counties and more than 270 students. In 2021, a virtual summit was held with more than 30 Delaware high schools represented.

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, Twitter or LinkedIn.

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

YES! Media Contacts: Dee Durham, CEO Plastic Free Delaware, deedurham@dca.net, 302-981-1950; or LeAnne Harvey, Green Building United, lharvey@greenbuildingunited.org, 276-608-5586

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DOVER – DNREC’s Shoreline & Waterway Management Section will be holding three informational public open house workshops to share information about dredging and other waterway management operations in Delaware.

The workshops are scheduled as follows:

• Wednesday, Oct. 23, 5-7:30 p.m., South Coastal Library, 43 Kent Avenue, Bethany Beach, DE 19930
• Wednesday, Oct. 30, 5-7:30 p.m., Indian River Volunteer Fire Company Hall, 32628 Oak Orchard Road, Millsboro, DE 19966
• Sunday, Nov. 3, 1-3:30 p.m., Lewes Library, 111 Adams Avenue, Lewes, DE 19958

The workshops all will provide information on topics such as the Inland Bays dredging prioritization project that is currently in progress, the upcoming maintenance dredging project at Massey’s Ditch, and an overview of waterway management operations (dredging, channel marking and surveying, macro-algae harvesting) conducted by the Shoreline & Waterway Management Section.

Interested parties are encouraged to attend the open houses to share ideas and comment on the dredging prioritization project, as well as learn and ask questions about these important topics of DNREC’s Shoreline & Waterway Management Section staff.

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

Vol. 49, No. 242

DOVER – The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control’s Division of Air Quality and the Tank Management Section within DNREC’s Division of Waste & Hazardous Substances will hold two public workshops next month on proposed vapor emission recovery and vapor emission control at gasoline-dispensing stations and on changes to Delaware’s Underground Storage Tank (UST) Regulations as required by new federal UST regulations.

Both workshops will be held Tuesday, April 16, with one upstate workshop and one downstate, as follow:

• New Castle County: 10 a.m., at DNREC’s Lukens Drive field office, 391 Lukens Drive, New Castle, DE 19720; and
• Kent and Sussex Counties: 6:30 p.m., DNREC Auditorium, Richardson & Robbins Building, 89 Kings Highway, Dover, DE 19901.

At the workshops, staff from the Division of Air Quality and the Tank Management Section will discuss proposed regulatory changes to:

• Phase out Stage II vapor recovery systems at Delaware gasoline dispensing facilities;
• Ensure gasoline USTs remain vapor tight once Stage II systems are removed; and
• Review changes required due to promulgation of new federal UST regulations.

For more information on the workshops, please visit the Delaware Public Meeting Calendar at https://publicmeetings.delaware.gov/Meeting/62548 and https://publicmeetings.delaware.gov/Meeting/62549

Additionally, you may contact Frank Gao at in the Division of Air Quality and/or Eileen Butler in the Division of Waste & Hazardous Substances’ Tank Management Section.

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

Vol. 49, No. 72

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Registration deadline Sept. 7 for state’s 20th BOW event

DOVER – Registration deadline is Friday, Sept. 7 for Delaware’s 2018 Becoming an Outdoors-Woman (BOW) program, a full weekend offering expert introduction to a variety of traditional outdoor sports and recreational activities set for Sept. 28-30 at Cape Henlopen State Park in Lewes. The 2018 event marks the 20th year that Delaware has hosted the program, sponsored by DNREC’s Division of Fish & Wildlife.

BOW offers a variety of 1.5-hour and 3.5-hour courses taught by volunteer instructors who share their expertise and provide instruction in a safe, supportive, and non-competitive atmosphere. The cost of participating in the full BOW weekend is $160, which includes meals, lodging, instruction, and use of necessary equipment and supplies. The cost of participating in Saturday-only BOW courses is $100, all-inclusive.

Participants can choose from a wide range of hands-on courses during each of the sessions. Included are Boating Safety, Building a Bluebird Nest Box, Campfire Cooking, Cold War Bike Tour, Deer and Furbearer Biology, Firearms Cleaning and Maintenance, “Fire It Up!” (building a campfire & making fire starters), Intro to Archery, Intro to Birding, Intro to Shotgun, Kayaking the Bay, Native Landscaping for Birds, Outdoor Photography, Overnight Hike, Paddleboarding, Rain Barrel Building and Water Quality, Saltwater Fishing by Boat, Seining the Bay, Surf Fishing, Tree I.D., and a “Wild Edibles Walk.”

A specialty course offered again this year at BOW is a mentored crossbow deer hunt. The course involves learning how to safely use a crossbow, participation in a hunter safety course, and taking part in a mentored deer hunt at Cape Henlopen State Park. Participants in the hunt are required to have a Delaware hunting license and hunter education certification prior to the event. Each hunter will be partnered with a mentor who will guide them during the managed hunt.

BOW registrations must be received by Friday, Sept. 7, with registration packets available online at http://de.gov/bow. Please send completed registration forms with payment to: Delaware Division of Fish & Wildlife – BOW, 2992 Lighthouse Road, Milford, DE 19963. For more information, contact Lynne Pusey at 302-422-1329 or email: lynne.pusey@delaware.gov.

Scholarships are available for the state’s Becoming an Outdoors-Woman event through the Delaware Friends of BOW. To apply for a scholarship, candidates should complete the BOW scholarship application form on the website at http://de.gov/bow. Once completed, scholarship application forms should be sent to Delaware Friends of BOW, 410 Cornish Road, Harrington, DE 19952.

While BOW is designed primarily for women, it offers an opportunity for anyone 18 or older to learn skills that allow them to participate in numerous outdoor activities. Since the first BOW event was held in Wisconsin in 1991, this exciting international program has expanded to 38 states and six provinces with more than 80 workshops offered each year. The main goal of the BOW program is to provide women the opportunity to learn skills that encourage and enhance participation in outdoor activities, such as hunting, shooting, fishing, boating, and other activities.

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

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

Vol. 48, No. 217