Governor’s agricultural and urban conservation award winners honored

A virtual ceremony held April 29 marked the annual Governor’s Agricultural and Urban Conservation Awards this year. Gov. John Carney, along with DNREC Secretary Shawn M. Garvin, Delaware Association of Conservation Districts President Richard Carlisle, and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service State Conservationist Kasey Taylor led a ceremony recognizing this year’s honorees and signed a proclamation officially designating April 25-May 2 as Stewardship Week in Delaware under the theme, Healthy Forests, Healthy Communities.

“Stewardship Week helps to remind us all of the power each person has to conserve natural resources and improve our world,” said Carlisle, “As a farmer and a conservation district board supervisor, I have long been aware of the importance of conservation to my farm and to our local communities.”

"During Soil and Water Stewardship Week, it’s a good time to think about the importance of clean water and caring for our state’s watersheds,” said Carney. “Each of the award recipients has made improving our watersheds a priority on their farms, in parks and in communities statewide.” 

This year’s agricultural honorees include Blaine Hitchens, a farmer from Laurel with a passion for improving soil health; L & J Farms, an organic poultry operation in Harrington that has sought to increase the sustainability of its farm while expanding its operations; and Marianne Hardesty, a dedicated conservationist with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and the New Castle Conservation District.

Urban conservation award recipients demonstrate innovation and exceptional community service. The Kenton Dollar General features the first submerged gravel wetland in the state, installed by William Owen of PennTex Ventures and designed by Jonathan Street of Becker Morgan Group. In Sussex County, the Trap-White Floodplain Creation Project transformed a drainage challenge into a wetland that captures nutrients, prevents erosion and provides habitat. New Castle County recognizes the Skyline Orchard Civic Association and General Excavating Inc. for emergency road repairs following the severe storms in August 2020. 

“These honorees worked with Delaware’s conservation partners to implement model conservation practices on their farms and in their businesses and projects,” said Garvin. “I would also recognize a great partnership between DNREC and Delaware’s conservation districts, which provide invaluable support to DNREC’s conservation mission. These awards highlight the beneficial outcomes of these relationships, and we’d like to take a moment to recognize the hard work that’s been done.” 

Delaware’s conservation districts, one in each county, are a unique governmental unit in partnership with DNREC. Their mission is to provide technical and financial assistance to help Delawareans conserve and improve their local natural resources, including solving land, water and related resource problems; developing conservation programs to solve them; enlisting and coordinating help from public and private sources to accomplish these goals; and increasing awareness of the interrelationship between human activities and the natural environment. Delaware’s district supervisors have a statewide organization, the Delaware Association of Conservation Districts, a voluntary, nonprofit alliance that provides a forum for discussion and coordination among the conservation districts.