In Delaware, the Fund and its partners are dedicated to preserving key forestland that gives the state its unique character and defines a way of life. Already the Fund has protected nearly 16,000 acres of the state’s working landscapes and recreation areas.

Recent Projects

Kesselring Farm & The Boy Scouts

In June 2010 the Fund and its partners preserved 138 acres adjacent to Dover—one of the few remaining large undeveloped tracts in close proximity to the city.

The Fund purchased the property from the Kesselring family. "This farm has been in the Kesselring family for nearly 110 years, and we’re grateful for this opportunity to take it in a new direction, one that reflects our family’s vision to preserve the land for future generations,” said Jane Kesselring Edwards, on behalf of the Kesselring family.

Eighty-five acres will be transferred to the Del-Mar-Va Council Boy Scouts, which plans to create its peninsula headquarters on the site and conduct youth camping activities. Kent County will acquire the remaining land, about 53 acres, for outdoor recreation and a trail system connecting to a nearby county park.

“Through a unique partnership, we have preserved this property and created new places for children, residents and visitors to reconnect with nature and experience the great outdoors,” said Blaine Phillips, the Fund's mid-Atlantic director.

Past Projects

Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge

Each spring and early summer, a massive migration of red knots, ruddy turnstones, and sandpipers descends on the beaches of Delaware Bay and Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge to feast on the eggs of the world’s largest population of horseshoe crabs. Thanks to financial support from the Allerton Foundation and a unique partnership with the Delmarva Ornithological Society, the Fund purchased a total of 16 acres here, securing three miles of coastline as an addition to the refuge. The newly protected dunes will provide a welcome retreat for the shorebirds during their marathon flight from Argentina to the Arctic Circle.

Redden State Forest

Complementing Governor Ruth Ann Minner’s Livable Delaware Initiative, The Conservation Fund joined with the state of Delaware to conserve 755 acres of working forestland in the heart of the Delaware Estuary. These thriving loblolly pine forests will safeguard wildlife habitat, enhance water quality and provide jobs for local residents. Support for the project was provided through the USDA Forest Service’s Forest Legacy Program and the Centex Land Legacy Fund.

Read about the following projects in detail: