“This Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal will rebuild America’s roads, bridges and rails, expand access to clean drinking water, ensure every American has access to high-speed internet, tackle the climate crisis, advance environmental justice, and invest in communities that have too often been left behind.” –The White House  Earlier this year, President Joe Biden signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also referred to as the “Act,” or Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, a landmark piece of legislation that delivers significant new federal investmen ..read more

If you’re from Delaware, it’s likely that you, or someone you know, experiences flooding, as surveys have shown that 48% of Delawareans experience flooding at least once a year. This greatly impacts Delaware’s communities, as was seen when the remnants of Hurricane Ida caused record flooding that lifted cars, covered bridges, and caused residents of Wilmington to evacuate their homes. As our climate changes, we are likely to see higher sea levels and more frequent and intense storms and it may feel like flooding is unavoidable. However, with good planning, it is possible to use green infras ..read more

As our climate changes and temperatures continue to rise, it is increasingly important that we talk about heat, both in terms of heat waves and heat islands. Most people are familiar with heat waves in some capacity and in pop culture we see them depicted playfully with melting popsicles and children playing near open fire hydrants. Rarely, however, do we see the dark side of these heat events.  According to the EPA, “more than 100,000 Americans have died from heat effects since 1979.” While these severe ..read more

Hispanic and Latinx Heritage Month has been recognized by the US Government since 1988 to recognize and appreciate their various cultures, achievements, and on-going contributions to our country.     Rather than spanning a month from beginning from end, Latinx Hispanic Heritage Month covers a range of Latin Independence Day celebrations. The first day of the month is September 15th, the Independence Days of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. The following days are the Independence Days of Mexico (9/16) and Chile (9/17)  ..read more

Images of turtles choking on plastic, birds pecking at Styrofoam, and penguins strangled by six-pack bottle yokes cover our screens. It’s hard to connect those tragedies with the bottles in our hands and the bags holding our groceries. Yet, similar scenes are all around us, in the plastic bags blowing around empty fields and the bottles floating in streams across the state. Plastic waste remains one of the largest sources of pollution in the country, but luckily the Delaware General Assembly has passed two laws and proposed one that will reduce the amount of plastic we use ..read more

Wilmington, DE (August 20, 2021) – U.S. Senator Tom Carper and Delaware Governor John Carney joined conservation partners in Wilmington today to celebrate the Christiana and Brandywine River restoration and resiliency project funded by the Delaware Watershed Conservation Fund. Another important step in the on-going work to improve Wilmington’s riverfront area with clean healthy rivers and attractive places for people and wildlife.     “I am pleased to be here today with so many good partners to support the Delaware Watershed Conservation Fund’s investments in the protect ..read more

The momentum of the Clean Water: Delaware’s Clear Choice campaign held strong through the tumultuous months of the COVID-19 pandemic, and in June 2021 we celebrated a landmark investment in conservation for Delaware: Over $75 million for State Fiscal Year (FY) 2022! Included under the umbrella of conservation funding are clean water investments, the conservation districts, as well as open space and farmland preservation.  Below we’ll break down the different line items, example projects, as well as recommendations for the future.  Clean Water Investments  The m ..read more

One of the greatest lessons that you can learn from nature is that everything is more than itself. A tree is not just the tree itself. It is the roots that anchor the soil, house for birds, it bears fruit for us to eat and gives us shade when it’s warm. Nothing in nature exists in isolation and neither do people. We are a collection of the many parts of our identity including our race, income, the language(s) we speak, gender expression, sexual orientation, physical ability, age and so much more–even the neighborhood where we were raised. The key to unlocking this understanding is to understa ..read more

Every June we celebrate Pride Month in the United States to honor the Stonewall Uprising in 1969, which was one of the sparks of an era of change for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) people in this country. Despite the rights that the LGBTQ+ community has fought for and won, there are fundamental needs that have yet to be secured in communities across the country. Now, more than ever, we need to work to make spaces safer for LGBTQ+ people, especially in the outdoors.  One common concern surrounding LGBTQ+ protection is the right to feel safe from day-to day. Accor ..read more

Emancipation Day Celebration Band c. 1900 In one of Frederick Douglass’ most memorable speeches he says, “What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July?” We celebrate Independence Day every July 4th to mark the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. It is a day full of American pride and gives us an opportunity to pay our respects to those who fought for our independence from Britain. The reality that Douglass brought up is that the 4th of July did not hold the same meaning and pride for American slaves because they weren’t free themselves. Freedom for slaves came in waves. One ..read more