Contact: Pat Cooper, Cape Henlopen State Park, phone: 302-645-8983
or Paul Faircloth, Cape Henlopen State Park, phone: 302-645-8983

Cape Henlopen State Park’s Point to Close March 1 for Beachnesting Season

The Point at Cape Henlopen State Park, including a quarter mile stretch of ocean beach and dunes and a half mile along the bay shoreline, will be closed beginning March 1 for the benefit of piping plovers, oystercatchers, least terns and other threatened and endangered beachnesters and migratory shorebirds.

The nesting habitat on the ocean side will reopen on Sept. 1, by which time the season’s young birds are typically able to fly. The bayside beach will remain closed until Oct. 1 for use by shorebirds migrating south for the winter.

The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control’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.

“DNREC is committed to providing protection for these species, hopefully to prevent them from completely disappearing from the state," says Park Administrator Pat Cooper. “We appreciate the public’s cooperation in this effort.”

For more information, contact the Cape Henlopen State Park office at 302-645-8983.

 

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