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WildawareB Y S A R A K A P L A N I A K • P H O T O S : D E L A W A R E WILD L A N D S

TALK ABOUT PRESSURE. One of thefirst pieces of business waiting for

Kate Hackett when she took the helm ofDelaware Wild Lands, Inc. in Februarywas to mark the organization's 50 yearsof conserving the First State's natural andcultural treasures. Since its founding in1961, Delaware Wild Lands has playeda pivotal role in protecting 30,000 acresof land throughout Delaware. Currently,the organization owns and manages morethan 20,000 acres of land and severalhistoric properties in New Castle, Kentand Sussex Counties.

"This makes Delaware Wild Landsthe largest non-profit, non-governmental

landowner in Delaware," says Hackettwith a humble grin. "I have the honorand the challenge of moving the orga-nization forward in the same dedicatedand creative spirit upon which it wasfounded."

Love of the Landscape

Delaware Wild Lands emerged from thework of a few conservationists dedicatedto raising funds for the acquisition of80 acres adjacent to Trussum Pond nearLaurel — a unique spot seemingly pluckedfrom the Deep South and deposited intoSussex County. The purchase fueled adesire to do more.

The chance came in 1961 when Dela-ware Wild Lands, officially established asa non-profit land conservation organiza-tion, began acquiring land in New CastleCounty to thwart Shell Oil's efforts toestablish a refinery. When Shell Oil gaveup its plans for construction, DelawareWild Lands acquired the company'sholdings, including valuable salt marshthat protects the shoreline from flood andstorm damage, filters streams and rivers,and nourishes birds, shellfish and otherwildlife. To further fortify the salt marshand other important coastal habitat, thenascent non-profit worked alongsidethen-Governor Russell Peterson to passthe Coastal Zone Management Act of1971, which substantially limits industrialuse of this valuable natural area.

Adds Hackett, "These actions laidimportant groundwork for workingcreatively to sustain wildlife habitat andensure that Delaware's residents andvisitors had natural places, open spacesand historic treasures to enjoy into thefuture."

Permanently protecting some of thestate's coastal salt marsh set a tone for theprojects Delaware Wild Lands wouldtake on in the future. Over five decades,Delaware Wild Lands would continueto acquire key parcels of land to man-age or sell to other conservation-mindedorganizations. Where it made sense,properties would accommodate hunting,trapping, agriculture, forestry, researchand education.

Lone duck at Delaware Wild Lands' Kux Farm property in New Castle County.

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Trussom Pond: Delaware Wild Lands' first purchase, now owned by the state.

Milford Neck MomentumIt was a little bit of everything in KentCounty's Milford Neck landscape, apatchwork of open spaces — beachesand dunes, tidal marshlands, freshwaterwetlands, forests and farmland. In 1995,Delaware Wild Lands purchased 1,775acres in Milford Neck, including aboutone and one-half miles of shoreline alongthe Delaware Bay.

Over the next decade, Delaware WildLands worked with DNREC's Divi-sion of Fish and Wildlife, The NatureConservancy, Ducks Unlimited, the U.S.Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. SoilConservation Service, and private groups

and individual landowners to protect theMilford Neck landscape with every con-servation tool in their collective arsenals.These tools included direct ownership,conservation easements and NorthAmerican Wetlands Conservation Act(NAWCA) grants which provide funds toorganizations and individuals who havedeveloped partnerships to conserve wet-lands vital to the livelihood of waterfowland other migratory birds in the UnitedStates, Canada and Mexico.

"This was a remarkable time forDelaware Wild Lands since millions ofmigrating shorebirds traveling along theAtlantic Fly way visit Milford Neck each

year," says Porter Schutt, a member of theorganization's Board of Trustees. "It alsocontains the only remaining forested areagreater than 1,000 acres on the Delawarecoast — a crucial spot for wildlife requir-ing large, fragmented blocks of habitatduring their life cycles."

The result was nothing short of spec-tacular. In 1998, tracts of land acquiredby Delaware Wild Lands, the state, andThe Nature Conservancy were woventogether to create the Milford NeckConservation Area which permanentlyprotects 10,000 contiguous acres, includ-ing nearly 10 miles of Delaware Bayshoreline.

Looking forward, Kate Hackett seesMilford Neck as a work in progress asDelaware, and the world, face differ-ent challenges, "With this collection of

Careful selection and harvest of trees willmake room for additional Atlantic white cedarand bald cypress plantings at the CypressSwamp

Delaware Wild Lands Fifty Years of Co•Preserving the agricultural way of life atDelaware Wild Lands'Sharp Farm property.

DWL formed to protect the TrussumPond/James Branch area.

DWL acquired the first 1,147acres of its Great Cypress Swamp

holding and additional propertiesin Blackbird/Taylor's Bridge andAngola Neck in response to ShellOil's intent to construct a refinery.

The Delaware Wildlife Federation,in cooperation with the NationalWildlife Federation and Sears-RoebuckFoundation, bestowed DWL with itsprestigious Conservation OrganizationAward and recognized founder andexecutive director, Edmund H. Harvey,as Conservationist of the Year.

DWL worked alongside formerGovernor Russell Peterson to passof The Coastal Zone ManagementAct of 1971, which limits industrialuse of Delaware's coastal zone.

Duck Creek Heritage Societyrecognized DWL for preserving andrestoring the historic Hart House.

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After Shell Oil abandoned plans toconstruct a refinery, DWL partnered withthe state to acquire and permanentlyprotect 2,700 acres of the company'skey, pristine Bayshore property.

Delaware Wild Lands'staff installingwood duck boxes at Delaware WildLands'Augustine Creek properties.

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parcels secured and protected, we nowturn our focus to managing the land-scape and ensuring it remains healthy forwildlife. This includes helping wildlifeadapt successfully to changing conditionssuch as sea level rise, marsh migration andextreme weather events."

An Even Greater Cypress SwampIn another part of the state, DelawareWild Lands builds on half a century of

experience to conserve another col-lection of parcels comprising the11,000-acre Great Cypress Swamp whichstraddles the state line \vith Marylandjustwest of Selbyville in southern Delaware.It's the organization's largest holding.During a new economic reality wherepublic funds and private donations canbe unpredictable, this work has requiredmore creativity and dedication than ever.

Adds Schutt, "Only 50 years of expe-

Waterfowl taking flight along Delaware Bayshores property owned byDelaware Wild Lands.

rience could have prepared us to pursuea new organizational goal at the GreatCypress Swamp: ecological and financialsustainability."

Delaware Wild Lands made its firstacquisition of 1,147 acres at the GreatCypress Swamp in 1964, not long afterthe organization's founding. Like atMilford Neck, Delaware Wild Landsworked with conservation partners overmany years to piece together at leasttwo dozen separate purchases that makeup the impressive tract under protectedstatus today.

"Our Great Cypress Swamp hold-ing provides a snapshot of a 50,000-acrelandscape once dominated by Atlanticwhite cedar and bald cypress," says PeterMartin, an ecologist who has -workedwith Delaware Wild Lands for 36 years."Over the course of history, settlersdrained the bogs to create farmland andharvested the massive stands of trees forshingles, buckets and siding. Part of theproperty also contained a large pine plan-tation and pulp generation operation."

According to Martin, the GreatCypress Swamp hosts a plethora of plantand animal life. It is the state's largestfreshwater wetland, and it forms theheadwaters to both the Inland Bays andthe Pocomoke River, which flows intothe Chesapeake Bay. The Great CypressSwamp also serves as an important filter

DWL purchased 1,775 acres andapproximately one and one-half miles ofDelaware Bay shoreline in Milford Neck.

The Delaware Nature EducationSociety honored DWL executivedirector Holger H. Harvey with itsNatural Areas Preservation Award.

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DWL received the Delaware Recreationand Parks Society's Organization Award.

The Delaware Nature Society honoredDWL executive director Holger H.Harvey with its Conservation Awardfor preserving lands at Milford Neck.

DWL joined with The NatureConservancy, Ducks Unlimited, theState of Delaware, and the federalgovernment to permanently protect10,000 contiguous acres at Milford Neck.

2000s

DWL acguired the 430-acre Sharp Farmto develop as a waterfowl refuge andinitiated improvements to enhancenesting and foraging habitat on the site.

Delaware Ducks Unlimited honored DWLexecutive director Holger H. Harvey withits Conservationist of the Year Award.

DNREC recognized DWL ecologist PeterS. Martin with its Delaware WetlandWarrior Award for his exemplaryefforts to protect wetlands and thebenefits they provide to society.

DWL initiated the developmentof a certified sustainable timbermanagement plan for its Great CypressSwamp property. The first sustainable

timber harvest made way for theplanting of 50,000 native Atlantic whitecedar and bald cypress seedlings andcontributed to the local economy andrestoration of the Roman Fisher Farm.

First phase of the Roman Fisher Farmrestoration project at the Cypress Swamp.

Fall 2011 OUTDOOR DELAWARE / 17

for surface and ground water, includingthe vast aquifer underlying its peaty soil.

Over the years, Delaware Wild Landspursued many strategies for managing,restoring and enhancing its holdings inthe Great Cypress Swamp. However,progress was slow-going in this complexecological mosaic . . . unti l recently.

In 2005, the advent of sustainableforestry opened new doors for Dela-ware Wild Lands when it entered intoan agreement with the forest manage-ment consulting firm, Vision Forestry, todevelop a sustainable timber managementplan for the Great Cypress Swamp prop-erty. The plan, which meets SustainableForestry Initiative certification guide-lines, demarcates parts of the propertyas a sustainable, working forest whileestablishing zones for the preservationand enhancement of ecological diversity.

Adds Mart in , "Developing this planhas been an evolutionary process involv-ing a combination of historical data, fieldwork and cutting-edge computer tech-nologies tha t we hope will lead to a sitededicated to habitat restoration, scientificresearch and education."

Interior of the Cypress Swamp at sunset.

A secondary benefit of this new planwill be a forestry operation that producesa small but sustainable supply ot timberand wood products. Profits from thesetransactions will drive preservation andrestoration activities at the Great CypressSwamp property while also benefitingthe local community and economy bycreating demand for goods and servicesassociated with Delaware Wild Lands'timber harvest and restoration activities.

"Our work at the Great CypressSwamp represents a long-term forestryproject that will protect and restore asensitive ecosystem while generatingrecurring revenue for the organization,"says Gene Bayard, long-time member ofDelaware Wild Lands Board of Trustees."It really takes the organization in a newand groundbreaking direction."

Habitat, Humans and HeritageIn time, revenue from the Great CypressSwamp sustainable forestry operationwill help bring the adjacent 25-acre Ro-man Fisher Farm back to life as a meetingfacility, lodging for researchers andprofessional education center. It repre-

sents a strategy that if successful, holdspromise for transforming Delaware WildLands' land protection and restoration ef-forts into a self-sustaining enterprise thataccommodates human uses while ben-efiting wildlife and local communities.

And in a sense, it comes full circle."Our founders felt there should be

a balance between restoring naturalhabitats, preserving cultural treasures andsustaining traditional uses of Delaware'slandscape such as hunting, trapping, agri-culture and forestry," says Kate Hackett."Delaware Wild Lands' commitment tothat vision remains undiminished, andwe look forward to taking it to the nextlevel by facilitating scientific research,fostering sound stewardship, and explor-ing the most effective management andrestoration tools and technologies at all ofthe valuable properties entrusted to us."OD

SARA M. K API A N I A K is A FREELANCE W R I T E RR E S I D I N G IN CENTRAL P E N N S Y L V A N I A . Si IEALSO SPENDS TIME RAISING TWO FUTURECONSERVATIONISTS — LlLY (AGE 7) A N DNOAH (AGE 10).

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