Proposed Restaurant at Cape Henlopen State Park on Hold

A proposed restaurant for Cape Henlopen State Park is on hold. At a public meeting about the project Monday, DNREC Division of Parks and Recreation Director Ray Bivens announced that DNREC and La Vida Hospitality have mutually decided not to move forward at this time with a proposed restaurant at the park. DNREC will conduct…

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US Army Corps & DNREC Sign Cost-Sharing Agreement

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-Philadelphia District has signed a feasibility cost sharing agreement with DNREC to initiate a new study for the Delaware Inland Bays. The signing of this agreement on November 29, 2022, formally kicks off the Delaware Inland Bays and Delaware Bay Coast Coastal Storm Risk Management Study. The study will evaluate…

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Three Sussex County Projects Included in TEDI

Five projects will receive $60,000 in grant funding for tree planting as part of Delaware’s Tree for Every Delawarean Initiative or TEDI – and three of those projects are in Sussex County. The project recipients include $10,000 to Delaware State Parks for tree plantings at Brandywine Creek and Delaware Seashore State Parks, $17,500 to the…

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December Seasons Set to Open for Hunting and Trapping in Delaware

Hunting and trapping seasons will open on December 1st. That includes a special antlerless deer season which runs from December 10th through the 18th. There are multiple furbearer trapping seasons that open December 1st as well as duck, Canada goose, woodcock, snipe and other hunting seasons that are open in December. Deer hunting is allowed…

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Auction of Low-Digit Surf Fishing Plates Begins Tuesday

DNREC’s annual auction of low-digit surf fishing plates begins at 9am on Tuesday at usgovbid.com. Bidders will have the option to bid on 15 tag – including numbers 32, 58, 143, 226, 355, 488 and on eight choice categories ranging from tags 51 to 9999 – and in the choice categories – the highest bidder…

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Updated Recycling Information from DNREC

Have you ever had questions about what and where to recycle? If you live in Delaware, check out DNREC’s updated online resource to help you determine what is acceptable in terms of how you manage trash. The resource includes pictures of more than 375 common items and lets you know how and where you can…

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DNREC to Hold Virtual Meetings Wed & Thurs on Adoption of CA Advanced Clean Cars II Program

Notice from DNREC: Delaware’s adoption of California’s Advanced Clean Cars II Program DNREC’s Division of Air Quality will also host a virtual workshop on amending 7 DE Admin. Code 1140 to update the adoption of California’s Advanced Clean Car II low-emission vehicle and greenhouse gas standards and add requirements for zero emission vehicles (ZEVs) for model year 2027 and…

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Changes Coming to DNREC’s 2023 Surf Fishing Permit Program

Low-digit surf plate (image courtesy of Delaware Dept. of Natural Resources)

Changes are coming to DNREC’s surf fishing permit program for 2023. The cap, which has been in effect since 2019 on the number of permits sold annually, will be eliminated. The cap will be replaced with a technology-based reservation system to manage capacity on summer weekends when the surf fishing beaches are in highest demand.…

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DNREC Beach Nourishment Program Begins Monday Along DE Bay

Fall is here – beach replenishment is getting underway on Delaware’s beaches. A month-long DNREC nourishment project at Pickering Beach in Kent County will begin on Monday – and bring around 3500 cubic yards of sand trucked in from local sources to cover 2500 feet of community beachfront. Other Delaware Bay communities – including Kitts…

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Federal, State & Local Officials Discuss Offshore Wind Farms for off Delaware and Maryland

Rehoboth Beach City Commission hosted a special meeting this morning on offshore wind projects off the Delaware and Maryland coast. There were presentations from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, DNREC, US Wind, Orsted, Ocean City officials, Caesar Rodney Institute and University of Delaware. Representatives from other coastal towns were also on hand. There was…

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DNREC Announces Grants to Support Communities With Pollution Restoration Projects

Delaware communities adversely affected by environmental pollution can now apply for Community Environmental Project Fund (CEPF) restoration grants for the 2023 grant cycle through DNREC. CEPF was created by the Delaware General Assembly in 2004 through legislation that authorized DNREC to establish a grant fund by withholding 25% of funds collected as penalties for violations…

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Winners Chosen for Delaware Waterfowl & Trout Stamp

The winners in Delaware’s Waterfowl Stamp and Trout Stamp art contests have been named. Best in Show is a painting of a wood duck in bottomland swamp by Richard Clifton of Milford and will be the 2023-24 Delaware Waterfowl Stamp. A painting of a brown trout by Jeffrey Klinefelter of Etna Green, Indiana will be…

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Update: 1 of 2 Recreational Water Quality Advisories Lifted in Rehoboth Beach

(Update, Thursday afternoon) A recreational water advisory for the beach at Rehoboth Avenue has been lifted. According to the Delaware Department of Natural Resources, the latest water sample shows bacteria levels have fallen below the recreational quality limit once again. That advisory that was issued Wednesday was lifted Thursday afternoon. The advisory at the Virginia…

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Sussex County’s White Creek Next in Line for Dredging

dredge file photo, courtesy of DNREC

An emergency dredge project at the Murderkill River in Kent County has been completed ahead of schedule. According to the Delaware Department of Natural Resources, its Shoreline and Waterway Management Section will take on another navigability restoration project on White Creek in Sussex County. The White Creek project is being put out for bids. More…

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Parts of The Point Reopen Today

The Point at Cape Henlopen State Park – including a stretch of ocean beach and dunes and a half-mile along the bay shoreline today. The Point has been closed annually each March for the benefit of threatened and endangered beach-nesters and migratory shorebirds. The bayside beach at the Point remains closed until October 1st for…

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Mosquito Spraying Today Downstate

Mosquito spraying will take place during daylight hours today by airplane near Milton and Lewes. There will also be spraying by truck mounted sprayer this evening in and near Rehoboth Beach and Milford and near Houston, Lincoln, Harrington, Greenwood, Bridgeville, Milton, Lewes and Millsboro This spraying will be done to control adult mosquitoes. For notification…

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DuPont Nature Center at Mispillion Harbor Reserve to Close Sept. 1st – Apr. 1st

The DuPont Nature Center at Mispillion Harbor Reserve near Slaughter Beach will be open for one more week. According to the Delaware Department of Natural Resources, the accessible observation deck will remain open while the Center itself is closed between September 1st and April 1st. The Center’s operations are timed to coincide with the shorebird…

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Smaller or Limited Guarded Swimming Areas at DE State Parks Beginning Next Week

DNREC will reduce the life-guarding hours at Delaware State Parks ocean swimming beaches starting next week. Smaller or limited guarded swimming areas at all Delaware State Parks swimming beaches will be available through Labor Day. People looking to swim at Delaware State Parks are encouraged to do so at guarded beaches, including the main beach at Cape Henlopen…

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DNREC Sets Virtual Workshop in Sept. on Seaford Biogas Project

A proposal to expand a composting facility in Seaford will be detailed next month during a Delaware Natural Resources virtual community workshop. Bioenergy Devco will need several permits to move forward with its proposal, which includes construction of an anaerobic digester that makes it possible to convert organic waste into renewable natural gas. BDC would…

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