Build Your Own Conservation Tour

of Delaware's Eastern Sussex County, for the 2022 NACD Executive Directors Conference

Jennifer Nelson

Delaware is divided into three wajor watersheds- the Chesapeake Bay, Delaware Bay and Inland Bays. Eastern Sussex County falls into the Inland Bays Watershed, and conservation here focuses on addressing water quality and drainage concerns.

The projects in this self-guided tour are a mix of drainage projects, wildlife and marsh habitat restoration projects and farms that are open to the public.

There's more here than can be covered in one afternoon, but these sites and the information that follows offers a taste of how conservation partners work in this area of  the First State .

You've been to a hybrid meeting... how about a hybrid field tour?

To participate, join the  Conservation Execs Facebook group .

In-person participants divide into groups and choose a few sites to visit, taking photos of sites and posting them with clues to where they are. (Bonus points for reenacting iconic artwork, movie scenes or album covers...)

Virtual and In-person participants can leave comments with a guess (on the either site and/or the reenactment). The most-liked photo and the person with the most correct guesses will win some amazing prize or trophy TBD (possibly fashioned out of recycled materials ;)

Virden Center at UD

1155 College Dr, Lewes, DE 19958

Prime Hook Marsh Restoration

11978 Turkle Pond Rd, Milton, DE 19968

Dogfish Head Brewery

6 Cannery Village Center, Milton, DE 19968; Open until 7pm

Hopkins Dairy Farm & Farm Creamery

18186 Dairy Farm Rd, Lewes, DE 19958; Open until 8pm

Oak Orchard Mercer Avenue RC&D Drainage Improvement Project

33232 Mercer Avenue Millsboro, DE

Pepper Creek Prong 2 Stream Restoration

Adjacent to 29117 Piney Neck Road Dagsboro, DE

Town of Dagsboro Washington Street

Warrington Street, Dagsboro DE

Story Hill Farm

34645 Winding Rd, Frankford, DE; Open until 5pm

Floating Wetlands in South Bethany Canals

In 2018, the Center for the Inland Bays and the town of South Bethany installed 130 floating wetlands to alleviate water quality issues in the South Bethany Canals.

James Farm Ecological Preserve

30048 Cedar Neck Rd, Ocean View, DE 19970

Living Shoreline- Read Ave. in Dewey Beach

Developed by the Center for the Inland Bays, this living shoreline project is a great example of a green shoreline project that addressed frequent road flooding, increased resiliency to storms and wave energy, beautified and still meets recreational needs by incorporating access to a kayak launch. This site has stormwater management components build in too. (info via DNREC)

Stormwater Ponds near Tanger Outlets and Junction & Breakwater Trailhead

36470 Seaside Outlet Dr, Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971

Lewes Canal Living Shoreline

Adjacent to 219 Pilottown Rd, Lewes, DE 19958

Virden Center at UD

1155 College Dr, Lewes, DE 19958

Prime Hook Marsh Restoration

11978 Turkle Pond Rd, Milton, DE 19968

Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge recently completed a large tidal marsh and beach restoration project, one of the largest ever in the eastern U.S.  The project restored a highly damaged tidal marsh/barrier beach ecosystem covering about 4,000 acres within the former freshwater impoundment system on the refuge. This coastal wetland restoration improves the ability of the refuge marshes to withstand future storms and sea level rise and improves habitat for migratory birds and other wildlife.  The restoration project is supported by funding from the Hurricane Sandy Disaster Relief Act.  ( via the USFWS website )

Dogfish Head Brewery

6 Cannery Village Center, Milton, DE 19968; Open until 7pm

If you drink craft beer, you're probably familiar with  Dogfish . Brewed in Milton, Dogfish has local roots.  They work with Proximity Malt in Laurel , who contracts with local growers to produce malted barley and other farmers to source local fruit for their beer. Their  Beer and Benevolence  program and annual Dogfish Dash supports The Nature Conservancy and public access to the outdoors.

Hopkins Dairy Farm & Farm Creamery

18186 Dairy Farm Rd, Lewes, DE 19958; Open until 8pm

Green Acres Farm, on which  Hopkins Farm Creamery  is nestled, has been owned and operated by the same family for four generations.

In 2011, the Center for the Inland Bays partnered with the Hopkins Dairy Farm (Green Acres Farm, Inc.) in Lewes on a project to improve water quality in  Love Creek  by restricting cattle access to one of its headwater streams.

R(Courtesy of the Hopkins Farm Creamery and Center for the Inland Bays websites)

Oak Orchard Mercer Avenue RC&D Drainage Improvement Project

33232 Mercer Avenue Millsboro, DE

This is a successful project that provided a tremendous amount of relief to the Oak Orchard Community, parking is decent in the area. The project was approximately $600k and included the improvement of the drainage infrastructure adjacent to Delaware Avenue and Mercer Avenue in Oak Orchard. A new bay outfall structure and tide gate were installed to prevent flooding on the roadways. We have some dramatic flooding photos before the outfall structure was repaired. (via DNREC)

 This local news story from 2015  illustrates the lengthy process involved to design, prioritize and implement projects throughout the community.

Pepper Creek Prong 2 Stream Restoration

Adjacent to 29117 Piney Neck Road Dagsboro, DE

This is a great project that incorporated stream restoration techniques on a Tax Ditch and included multiple partners, parking and access is good. The project cost was approximately 75k which included RC&D funds, Regional Conservation Partnership program funds through NRCS, and landowner cost share.  The scope of work included channel maintenance and stabilization utilizing stream restoration techniques, in addition, a buffer was incorporated between the stream and the ag field to reduce nutrient runoff and minimize upland erosion. Sussex Conservation District constructed the project and DNREC’s Drainage Program completed the project design. (via DNREC)

Also, what is a tax ditch?  Click here to find out. 

Town of Dagsboro Washington Street

Warrington Street, Dagsboro DE

Drainage Improvement project which addressed drainage issues, stabilization issues, and incorporated BMP’s. The project cost was 145k and was funded through CTF and RC&D Funds, the Town of Dagsboro’s engineer completed the design and SCD completed construction. Construction included the installation of new infiltration trenches within existing roadside ditches, riprap installation for bank stabilization, new catch basins and pipes, infiltration swales installed with perforated HDPE pipe, and a rain garden. (via DNREC)

Story Hill Farm

34645 Winding Rd, Frankford, DE; Open until 5pm

Protecting pollinators, one pasture at a time.

In 2019, with no first-hand experience, they purchased farmland in Frankford, hired farmhand Derek Kuebeck and the trio set out to transform barren pastures into meadows to restore pollinator habitats. Regenerative agriculture, specifically rotation grazing, was the key to converting poor soil into a diverse ecosystem. Armed with this knowledge, they set out to source some hooves. (via the Sussex Conservation District. View the feature for Story Hill Farm at  https://www.sussexconservation.org/cooperators/featured/storyhillfarm.html) 

Visit Story Hill Farm's website:  https://www.storyhillmoos.com/ 

Floating Wetlands in South Bethany Canals

In 2018, the Center for the Inland Bays and the town of South Bethany installed 130 floating wetlands to alleviate water quality issues in the South Bethany Canals.

James Farm Ecological Preserve

30048 Cedar Neck Rd, Ocean View, DE 19970

The James Farm Ecological Preserve (Preserve) is an oasis of wildland on Indian River Bay, located just a short drive from Bethany Beach, Delaware on Cedar Neck Road in Ocean View.

From the sandy beach at low tide, you can  walk the trails  through seven distinctive habitats; from the salty flats of the low marsh with its salt marsh cordgrass and glasswort, through the shrubby high marsh with bayberry, marsh alder, and salt marsh hay, into the shade of the loblolly pines, holly and red cedar of the maritime forest, into the deep shade of the hardwood forest under a canopy of southern red oak, hickory, sweetgum, and sassafras, finally to emerge back into the sunshine in the meadows that were once farm fields. (from the Center for the Inland Bays website)

Living Shoreline- Read Ave. in Dewey Beach

Developed by the Center for the Inland Bays, this living shoreline project is a great example of a green shoreline project that addressed frequent road flooding, increased resiliency to storms and wave energy, beautified and still meets recreational needs by incorporating access to a kayak launch. This site has stormwater management components build in too. (info via DNREC)

Stormwater Ponds near Tanger Outlets and Junction & Breakwater Trailhead

36470 Seaside Outlet Dr, Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971

Delaware's Conservation Districts are granted designated authority to administer Sediment and Stormwater regulations in each county. They review and approve site design plans for developments such as the Tanger Outlets to ensure that runoff from impervious areas does not negatively impact the surrounding properties.

This site also serves as a trailhead for the popular  Junction & Breakwater Trail , a scenic 5.8 mile loop between Rehoboth Beach and Lewes.

Lewes Canal Living Shoreline

Adjacent to 219 Pilottown Rd, Lewes, DE 19958

The goal of the Lewes Canal living shoreline is to:

The project structures, including coconut fiber coir logs, coconut mats, and oyster shell bags, were installed in April 2014 and planted in April 2015 with rescued smooth saltmarsh cordgrass that contained live mussels. Over the past three years data has been collected on this site to see if it has been successful.

Additional note from DNREC: "Your description mentions the 2014 effort but we actually just turned our original control area into a project extension in 2021! The original project is so grown up you really can’t see it from upland unless you’re standing in it- which is a good thing. The extension area is visible at low tide only from the Lewes Life Saving Station property."

 Click here  to view more photos and see a tour of living shorelines around Delaware. (courtesy of DNREC)

RC&D? Or RC&D?

National partners are familiar with Resource Conservation & Development as an organization, and in Delaware, we have a local First State RC&D that runs a grant program for small projects throughout the state.

When Delaware partners refer to RC&D though, we're usually talking about a pot of funding by the same name that goes toward drainage improvement projects. The fund was originally called the "21st Century Fund" and was established by the Twenty-First Century Fund Investments Act of 1995 that resulted from a settlement with the State of New York.

These RC&D funds are allocated through the Delaware General Assembly. The RC&D Program targets funds to “enhance the health of communities by improving watershed and drainage issues statewide.” Projects that receive RC&D funds require approval by the Joint Committee on Capital Improvement, and at least 10% of the total project cost must be from another source.

In the projects above, one of those funds commonly utilized to match RC&D funds is "CTF" or "Community Transportation Funds". These are funds that are allocated to individual jurisdictions each year that elected officials can use toward transportation projects at their discretion.

The Most Chickens

You can't talk about agriculture in Delaware without talking about our poultry industry. Chickens outnumber Delaware residents by 200:1, and Sussex County grows more chickens than any other county in the US. In Eastern Sussex County, there are fewer and fewer farms in general, including poultry farms, due to development pressure from new residents moving out to the beaches.

Poultry farms in close proximity to a development in the Inland Bays Watershed

A Tale of Two Farmers

Brad Ritter

Brad owns and operates farms in Eastern Sussex County and is an NACD Soil Health Champion. Whether he's working with the Sussex Conservation District to document the results of planting hairy vetch ahead of lima beans, or with the Delaware-Maryland 4R Alliance to integrate NDVI drone imagery in his nutrient management strategy, Brad is continually trying new practices, tools and technologies on his farm. His wife, Laura, and their daughter, Amanda, own and operate  Goat Joy  at their home farm in Harbeson.

Brad Ritter Practicing Soil Health in Sussex County, Delaware

Roland Hill

Roland and his wife Laura own and operate Deefield Farm, also in Eastern Sussex County. Roland is DACD's current president, and Laura is the vice president of the Delaware Farm Bureau and serves on the Delaware Nutrient Management Commission. Roland and Laura, along with two other farms on Delmarva, were recently featured in a full-length film about soil health produced by Karrah Kwasnik and the USDA Northeast Climate Hub, " Delmarva and the Ground for Change ".

Meet the farmers behind Deerfield Farm [from the documentary, Delmarva and the Ground for Change]. The Hill family grows grains and vegetables on about 1,800 acres, and manages a 105,000-capacity poultry operation in Lewes, Delaware. The family champions no till farming, utilizes cover crops, and runs subsurface drip irrigation lines across some of its fields.

Both Brad and Roland farm both land that they own as well as rented land. Development pressure, particularly on their rented ground, is a constant challenge in maintaining farm profitability.

Every Acre Counts...

Jeff Chorman, Ag Pilot, with one of the fourteen planes in his fleet

Keep your eye out for a yellow crop duster flying overhead- it's cover crop planting season! For Sussex County, the early planting deadline is October 1, and the late planting deadline is November 15.

Each conservation district has their own cover crop cost-share program. Read more about the Sussex Conservation District's current program in their 2023 Cover Crop Program Fact Sheet.

Cover crop implementation is a key component of Delaware's Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan. About 25% of Sussex County's crop acreage is planted in cover crops each year.

Oyster Farming- an Emerging Industry

Conservationists that work in and around estuaries get really excited about oysters. As filter feeders, a single mature oyster can filter up to 50 gallons each day, offering tremendous potential positive impacts on water quality.

Until recently, oyster initiatives in the Inland Bays had focused on restoration rather than commercial farming. The Center for the Inland Bays began partnering with local restuarants for the  "Don't Chuck Your Shucks" program  in 2014 to recycle oyster shells, and have worked with  volunteer oyster gardeners  since 2003.

Visit the  CIB website  to see a list of participating restaurants.

DNREC issued its first subaqueous lands aquaculture lease in December of 2017 and the first oyster harvest in the Inland Bays under the program in the fall of 2018. Since then, businesses like  Arrowhead Point Oysters  and the  Oyster Aquaculture Program at Delaware Sea Grant  have emerged to support and develop this new industry. NRCS is also providing technical and financial assistance through the EQIP Program for farmers to establish oyster farms in the Delaware Bay.

If you're interested in digging in and learning the ins and outs of oyster aquaculture, Alan Davis of Arrowhead Point Oysters and Inland Bays Shellfisheries, LLC presented  this lecture  as part of a series hosted by the Delaware Seashore State Park in January.

Thanks to everyone who is able to participate! We appreciate the opportunity to show off our conservation efforts here in Sussex County!

Poultry farms in close proximity to a development in the Inland Bays Watershed

Jeff Chorman, Ag Pilot, with one of the fourteen planes in his fleet

Visit the  CIB website  to see a list of participating restaurants.