NEWS FROM THE DELAWARE DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURECES AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL
For more information contact Patrick Cooper, Cape Henlopen State Park, 302-645-8983.
Cape Henlopen State Park’s Point Beach to reopen Sept. 1
CAPE HENLOPEN (Aug. 24, 2011) – DNREC’s Division of Parks and Recreation announced today that Cape Henlopen State Park’s Point Beach will reopen on Thursday, Sept. 1. The oceanside beach will reopen to pedestrians and surf-fishing vehicles, while the bayside beach will remain closed until Oct. 1, for use by shorebirds migrating south for the winter.
Shorebirds return to the Delaware coast in March and build their nests in the sand between the dunes and the water. Point Beach closed on March 1 to help protect piping plovers, oystercatchers, least terns and other threatened and endangered beachnesters and migratory shorebirds. With nesting season over at the end of summer, the beach can be reopened.
DNNREC’s Divisions of Parks and Recreation, Fish and Wildlife, and Soil and Water Conservation have been working together since 1990 to implement a management plan to halt the decline of beachnester and migratory shorebird populations. The Point has been closed annually since 1993.
For more information, contact the Cape Henlopen State Park office at 302-645-8983.
Vol. 41, No. 327