DNREC should uphold its responsibility in Cape Henlopen State Park

On behalf of the scouts, leaders, and parents of Boy Scouts of America, Troop 1, Lewes, I am writing to express our opposition and objection to DNREC’s plans to abolish the primitive area at Cape Henlopen State Park and replace it with luxury cottages. We are appalled and shocked to hear that the very state agency responsible for preservation of our precious natural resources would even consider such a proposal and fall to the seemingly political pressures of the local tourist industry. 

As a veteran BSA leader, I have personally spent time with hundreds of young boys and young men in the primitive area of Cape Henlopen State Park and walking the surrounding trails. One of the core principals of scouting is the concept of leave no trace. Using the leave-no-trace philosophy, we teach our youth about how precious nature can be. Every sapling, wildflower and living creature we find in nature is just a small part of the beautiful natural resource. We teach our scouts to respect nature and to leave an area, if not better than we found it, then in such a way that our footprints are unseen. We recognize the concept that we are only a small part of a generation that is charged with holding these precious natural resources in trust for future generations. It is our hope as scouters that our great-great-great-grandchildren, and beyond, have the same opportunity to explore the beauty of CHSP that we, and the young scouts we mentor, have had. This is not only our responsibility as scouters but also as citizens and humans. This is also DNREC’s responsibility as the agency charged with protecting and preserving the natural resource that is CHSP. 

Over the past two decades, the residents of Sussex County have watched our forests, fields and meadows fall one-by-one to development. With each new subdivision introduced to the area, the responsibility and mission of DNREC becomes more and more important to future generations. DNREC is our only protection against the loss of natural resources. Without DNREC to protect nature, there will be no nature to protect. 

Since the days of Teddy Roosevelt, both federal and state governments have recognized the need to set aside our most treasured natural resources for future generations to enjoy. CHSP, in our view, is Delaware’s most precious natural resource. Not only is it a beautiful oceanfront park, it also offers woodlands, sand dunes, marsh areas and important history. The primitive area’s location in CHSP is key to its place in helping us teach youth about all kinds of natural beauty and, in particular, the beauty that is CHSP. Its strategic location near Herring Point, near the bike trail to Rehoboth, beside the ocean and Delaware Bay, and near Fort Miles makes it a perfect location for youth to explore nature in many forms and habitats, learn history and appreciate the surrounding beauty we have all come to love in CHSP. 

We, not just as scouters, but also as citizens, have been able to partner with DNREC over the years to help preserve the beauty and natural surroundings of CHSP. The scouts, leaders and parents of Troop 1 hold a special commitment to CHSP and the primitive area. As the local BSA troop from Lewes, we consider CHSP as our home base, and the primitive area ours to protect and foster. When we set up camp in the primitive area, we are coming home. We have worked hard as local naturalists in the area to ensure that other surrounding youth and visitors can experience the same natural beauty that we have enjoyed over the years. We simply treasure the opportunity to share our home with others. When we leave the primitive area after a camping trip, we leave no trace of our visit. If this proposal for luxury cottages is approved, our decades of preserving the primitive area will have been in vain. 

What message does this proposal send to the youth? While we, and other conservation-minded people have tirelessly endeavored to respect and protect CHSP, including the primitive area, DNREC is considering destroying this natural treasure for the sake of building luxury cottages for the tourists. That is not the state park’s mission or obligation. Any of us can drive along Route 1 and even the surrounding backroads and see the hotels, condominiums and houses used and rented by those coming to the Delaware beaches. It is beyond our comprehension how a few cottages in the primitive area can advance the state park’s core responsibility of protecting the natural environment. By advancing such ideas and building cottages where natural beauty existed, the Delaware State Parks system will be sending a message to everyone, including future generations, that it’s OK to destroy nature for the sake of the American dollar.  

If we cannot count on DNREC and the state parks system to protect the natural beauty and integrity of CHSP, this state is doomed. If this plan is pursued, this generation and every generation to follow will suffer from the loss of the natural beauty of the primitive area. More importantly, without DNREC and the state parks system upholding its responsibility, there is little hope that future generations will have the same respect for nature that we have or be able to enjoy nature as we know it. 

We, the scouts, leaders and parents of BSA Troop 1, respectfully demand that DNREC and the state parks system recognize and uphold its mission to protect the natural integrity of CHSP and accordingly dismiss these plans to build luxury cottages on the primitive area.