Environmental Impacts & Natural Resource Protection
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SNCC is part of the Delmarva Peninsula, and as such has a rich natural and cultural heritage. Agriculture once dominated the landscape, tidal rivers and headwater streams meander throughout the area, and forests provided timber for ship-building, shingling and other industries. Woodlands, fields, wetlands and bays supported abundant fish and wildlife that were hunted, trapped and fished for generations for subsistence and for market.
A few specific natural areas of great interest and value include:
The Blackbird Millington Corridor
The Blackbird Creek
Blackbird State Forest
The Appoquinimink River Natural Area
The Regions High Quality Agricultural Lands, such as those on the Levels
The Augustine Wildlife Areas
Scott Run Natural Area
Noxontown Pond Natural Area
Thousand Acre Marsh
The C&D Canal Wildlife Area
Today this rural character, natural heritage and outdoor traditions are at risk, as farms and forests are converted to housing developments. These unprecedented changes in our landscape in recent decades are taking their toll on the quality of human life and populations of native plants and wildlife. However, it is not too late to protect and preserve our cultural and natural heritage.
The Southern New Castle County Alliance has focused most of our attention on protecting our Environment and Natural Resources on efforts that reduce and control the largest threat to these resources, RAPID OVERDEVELOPMENT. Specifics on these efforts are found throughout all of the SNCC Community Issues on this web page.
In addition, the Alliance strongly supports numerous efforts by nonprofit organizations and government agencies actively working in our area. These include efforts by The Nature Conservancy (and many others) to protect the Blackbird Millington Conservation Corridor, Efforts by the Appoquinimink River Association to protect and improve the Appoquinimink River Region and Watershed, and efforts by Delaware Wildlands, Inc. to protect land throughout the region.
We also support efforts by Government Agencies to protect and improve our natural resources such as the efforts of the Delaware National Estuarine Research Reserve to protect the Blackbird Creek, The Delaware Forestry Service for their efforts to expand and continue to protect the Blackbird Forest, the Delaware Division of Fish and Wildlife for their continued expansion and protection of wildlife area, and the Delaware Department of Agriculture for their efforts to protect farmland with the State's Farmland Preservation Program.
The Blackbird Millington Conservation Corridor Effort by The Nature Conservancy (Click for More Details)
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This effort seeks to protect a band of open space that stretches across the Delmarva Peninsula, from the Cypress Branch and Millington area in Maryland to the Delaware Bay at the mouth of the Blackbird Creek. This area-the Blackbird-Millington Corridor-is recognized by The Nature Conservancy and other conservation organizations as a regional conservation priority based on three factors:
There is a concentration of important ecological features and natural communities.
Private landowners have a history of balanced stewardship in the Corridor.
There is a solid foundation for conservation.
The Blackbird-Millington Corridor is also recognized by the State of Delaware as one of the state's most important areas of "Green Infrastructure" - a network of farms, forests and other natural areas that supports native species, maintains ecological processes, sustains air and water resources and contributes to the health and quality of life for communities and people.
Downloadable TNC Brochure on Blackbird Millington Corridor
TNC-Blackbird.v1.pdf
(458K)
Appoquinimink River Association
The Appoquinimink River Association's mission is to preserve, protect and enhance the rivers and related natural resources of the Appoquinimink region.
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