Sussex County Land
Trust History of Acquisitions & Easements & Major Events
December 2002 to February 2003:
State of Delaware Department of Agriculture Foundation
Matching Grants Program Round 8: $300,000 raised by SCLT,
matched by SCC, matched by State and Federal programs,
leveraging $1.8M, preserving 802 acres in Sussex County.
March 2003: Partnership with TNC
on Oyster Rocks Road whereby SCLT holds fee simple title to
43 acres along the Great Marsh. TNC holds a conservation
easement on the property. We purchased the property for
$600,000 with funds from SC Open Space funds.
June 2003: Bayside Conservation
Easement approved by US Army Corps to hold the conservation
easement on approximately 280 acres of wetlands along Drum
Creek in the Assawoman Bay area of the inland bays. This is
a donated easement, with a $50,000 endowment and use of
their Nature Center. In addition, they have pledged
$500/unit for 1700 units, for a total of $850,000.
March 2004: Declared by SCC “Land
Preservation Month in Sussex County”
March 19, 2004: Race for Open
Space 5K at Junction and Breakwater Trail and Inaugural
Ball, presented with a check for $50,000 by Caldera
Properties for Wolfe House renovations, raised $75,000; net
35,000 for Wolfe House renovations
March 19, 2004: Announcement by
Secretary of DNREC, John Hughes, of partnership between
State of DE and SCLT to renovate the Wolfe House, a historic
home situated at the beginning of Junction & Breakwater
Trail connecting Rehoboth Beach & Lewes.
April 2004: Partnership announced
with TNC on Ponder Tract -908 acres of one of the largest
forested areas remaining on the Delmarva Peninsula, what an
important endeavor. The SCLT Board agreed to pledge $1M, of
which $250,000 was from private funds and $750,000 was from
SC Open Space Fund. This Tract represents an opportunity for
public access once restoration is completed and allows the
Nature Conservancy to leverage funds 13 times over with
private, federal and state funding sources.
May 2004: Peninsula Conservation
Easement approved by US Army Corps to hold the conservation
easement on approx. 230 acres of wetlands along the inland
bays. They have also made a tremendous commitment to open
space by pledging $1000 per lot, for 1404 lots, totaling
$1.4M, of which $50,000 is set aside for conservation
easement monitoring.
June 2004: State of Delaware
Department of Agriculture Foundation Matching Grants
Program, Round 9: County General Fund with recommendation by
SCLT for $200,000 raised by SCC, matched by State and
Federal programs, preserving 443 acres in Sussex County.
June 30, 2004: $1.5M pledge to
partner with State of Delaware to purchase four parcels from
Delaware Wildlands, totaling approximately 650 acres. (Later
this pledge of $1.5M was asked to be transferred by the
State to the Tunnell Tract. SCLT is still recognized as
being instrumental in securing these lands for
preservation.)
February 2005: State of Delaware
Department of Agriculture Foundation Matching Grants
Program, Round 10: $125,000 raised by SCLT, matched by SCC,
matched by State and Federal programs, preserving 502 acres
in Sussex County.
March 19, 2005: Race for Open
Space & April 16, 2005 Land Trust Ball, raising $120,000 of
private funds of which the net proceeds of $75,000 was used
to benefit conservation programs in Sussex County.
December 2005: The Cannon Tract,
totaling 37 acres currently being farmed, with upland forest
and wetlands along Pepper Creek was approved for purchase
for $1.3M, using SC Open Space funds.
February 2006: State of Delaware
Department of Agriculture Foundation Matching Grants
Program, Round 11: $350,000 raised by SCLT private funds,
matched by SC Open Space funds, matched by State and Federal
programs, leveraging $1.1M, preserving 500 acres in Sussex
County, over and above the Ag Foundation purchases in Sussex
that year.
December 2006: Partnership with
the State of Delaware, The Conservation Fund and Sussex
County to preserve Tunnell Tract $1.5M to be paid in three
$500,000 installments. Northeast of Redden State Forest and
Southwest of Milton, this contiguous parcel to already
protected lands totals 755 acres.
January 2007: Partnership with The
Nature Conservancy to purchase the conservation easement on
The Burton Tract, 150 acres located on Hudson and Carpenter
Road using $428,000 of SC Open Space funds.
May 2007: State of Delaware
Department of Agriculture Foundation Matching Grants
Program, Round 12: $105,000 raised by SCLT, $300,000 pledged
by SCC, matched by State and Federal programs, leveraging
$1.1M, preserving 214 acres in Sussex County, over and above
the Ag Foundation purchases in Sussex that year.
September 2008: The Cannon Masten
Property, on RT #30 (Atlanta Road) between Seaford and
Bridgeville. The property was purchased with $500,000 in
private funds ($362,500 cash and $125,000 in seller’s
financing) and $225,000 in County pledged funds. Constructed
in 1727, this structure is significant to the heritage of
Sussex County as it is one of the oldest surviving homes and
one of the only extant brick homes in Delaware from the
eighteenth century. It sits on 59 acres with 37 tillable and
22 acres of woods and wetlands.
July 2009: State of Delaware
Department of Agriculture Foundation Matching Grants
Program, Round 14: $22,934.10 raised by SCLT, $300,000
pledged by SCC, matched by State and Federal programs,
preserving 211 acres in Sussex County, over and above the Ag
Foundation purchases in Sussex that year.
August 2009: Middleford North
Preserve in Nanticoke Watershed partnership with County and
The Nature Conservancy
Sussex County Land
Trust
Summary of Dollars and Acres
Total private dollars pledged and raised
to date: $4,198,481.09
18 Different development projects
represented
Total pledged by SC Open Space funds to
date
o FY ’03 to FY ’10 $6,291,626.00
Total preserved acres with which SCLT has
been
involved: 5,784 acres
P.O. Box 763, Rehoboth
Beach, DE 19971 | Phone: 302.227.0287
| Fax: 302.227.2326 | wobaker@sclandtrust.org
