I am writing to express my strongest opposition to the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control’s proposed addition of 11 upscale cabins inside Cape Henlopen State Park.
As outlined in the paragraphs below, not only do these cabins appear to be in direct conflict with Delaware Senate Bill 6, but even more distressing, the proposed site for these luxury accommodations will displace a primitive campsite long used by Scout troops and other youth groups.
According to Section 5 of SB 6, the legislation serves as preservation and protection of the natural and historical resources established in the Warner Grant Trust Lands, and DNREC must act in accordance with the following three governing priorities: conservation, nature education and public recreation.
The two principal directives of SB 6 are:
- “... DNREC has a duty to act as trustee on behalf of the public interest in preserving and protecting the Warner Grant Trust Lands ...”
- “... the first priority and concern of all those holding the Warner Grant Trust Lands in trust must be, now and in perpetuity, the preservation and protection of the natural and historical resources, which are a most precious resource of this state and its citizens.”
SB 6 makes one glaring stipulation that DNREC is clearly circumventing. In Section 5, (2), c., 2, it states, “DNREC may not develop hospitality amenities such as a restaurant, hotel, hostelry or entertainment center.” How can cabins not be considered as hostelry?
And as if building hospitality amenities is not expressly banned by SB 6, the loss of primitive camp sites that have been in use by countless youth over several generations is a travesty to the stated mission of DNREC to protect public health and the environment, provide quality outdoor recreation and improve the quality of life. How does the loss of this treasured resource meet any of those lofty ideals? As an Eagle Scout, I find the loss of this primitive campground anathema to everything I learned in the scouts.
Please write your Delaware representatives and Raymond Bivens, director of DNREC’s Division of Parks and Recreation, to stop this project now. We do not need the cabins, the revenue, nor do we want the loss of the campsite.
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