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Thoughts on the Delaware Wetlands Conference

February 10, 2018

On Jan. 31, I attended the 2018 Delaware Wetlands Conference at the Westin Wilmington Hotel along the waterfront. I had no idea what to expect, and my objective was to learn more about wetlands because they support just about every game fish and animal important to Delaware sportsmen and women. The conference ran for two days, but I could only attend the Wednesday sessions.

The way the workshops were arranged, each person could pick and choose the ones they wanted to attend. I chose the ones that had to do with Delaware first and then one from New Jersey.

The first one I attended covered the work to restore the Marshyhope Tax Ditch. Melissa Hubert was the speaker, and she explained all the different actions required to get this project completed.

The end result was a rechannelized waterway that will restore the habitat and improve water quality. Breaches will be constructed along the berm to allow more water to flow into adjacent floodplains. This will improve floodplain forests and allow for better maintenance of the tax ditch.

Next, I sat in on the session on the Lizard Hill project. Lizard Hill is between Selbyville and Bishopville, Md., and required a complete refurbishing of the area to get the water flowing again and bring back native plants and animals. Here too, large parts of the area needed to be cleaned out and deepened.  

One thing that I found interesting was the way plants grow in wetlands. Some types of plants need to have their roots submerged all the time. Another group only wants wet feet when the tide comes in. A third group needs dry feet most of the time, but can withstand wet feet during periods of heavy rain. For all the time I have spent looking at wetlands, I never noticed the various types of vegetation. It all looked like one big muddy mess with green stuff along the edge.

One of the largest wetland recovery projects was the Peterson Tract along the Christiana riverfront in Wilmington. This is part of the Russell W. Peterson Urban Wildlife Refuge, with planning beginning in 1994 and actual work commencing in 1997. The project will be completed in winter 2018.

This was another learning experience for me. I am aware how slow progress can be when you need permits from various agencies. If the project is to be done in phases, they will need permits for each step along the way. Also, if anything comes up during the work that requires more agency involvement, even more permits and more time will be involved. That I know because they found Indian artifacts when the state began moving dirt to build more boat ramps at Phillips Landing. All work had to stop until the state archaeological department cleared the area and determined if it is historically important. It wasn’t, but the process took up a good six months.

New Jersey presented three sessions on using dredge material to stabilize wetlands. The areas they used were near Fortescue on the Delaware Bay and two locations in the marsh behind the barrier islands on the Atlantic Coast.

There was a lot of information on a lot of subjects, such as the makeup of the dredge material, plants to stabilize the soil, and permitting, but my overall impression was this form of marsh replacement will work in various situations. I know Delaware has discussed this process for the Back Bays, but I don’t believe it has been tried.

The bottom line is, it is possible to replenish and restore a wetlands, but it takes a lot of time and a lot of money. Those of us who have tried to find the money to do dredging for recreational waterways and restore wetlands are more than aware of both problems.

Private leases on public lands

A story by Maddy Lauria appeared in Tuesday’s News Journal concerning the Delaware Agriculture Department’s possible plans to lease out two forest tracts in the Redden State Forest in Sussex County. According to the article, the plan is to put the tracts up for auction to the highest bidder, and we know that will mean those with the most money will win again. The Redden State Forest is public land paid for and managed with tax money, and it should be open to the public, period.

The farmers who suffer considerable damage from deer want something done to curtail the problem. I am all for longer seasons, perhaps a bounty on does or other methods to control the population, but under no circumstances should public hunting land be leased to the highest bidder.

I will do all I can to find out more about this in time for next week’s edition.

  • Eric Burnley is a Delaware native who has fished and hunted the state from an early age. Since 1978 he has written countless articles about hunting and fishing in Delaware and elsewhere along the Atlantic Coast. He has been the regional editor for several publications and was the founding editor of the Mid-Atlantic Fisherman magazine. Eric is the author of three books: Surf Fishing the Atlantic Coast, The Ultimate Guide to Striped Bass Fishing and Fishing Saltwater Baits. He and his wife Barbara live near Milton, Delaware. Eric can be reached at Eburnle@aol.com.

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