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House Speaker Robert F. Gilligan Receives Legislative Award from Delaware Association of Conservation Districts

Delaware Division of Fish and Wildlife

DOVER, Delaware --(AmmoLand.com)- The Delaware Association of Conservation Districts (DACD) presented House Speaker Robert F. Gilligan, D-Sherwood Park, with the Association’s Legislative Award on Jan. 13.

The award is presented annually to a legislator for outstanding service, loyalty and devotion to conservation efforts in the state of Delaware. Representative Gilligan has been a member of the House of Representatives since 1972.

During his 37 years as an elected official he has had an ongoing relationship with the New Castle Conservation District (NCCD). He has worked closely with the District to install conservation practices for constituents. He has been a long-time supporter of and provided funding for collaborative urban and community stormwater management and drainage projects by the NCCD, the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC), New Castle County and the Department of Transportation.

Representative Gilligan has served as the House representative on the Joint Finance Committee and as Chair of the Bond Bill Committee. He has been a leading advocate of state funding for the state Conservation Cost-Share Program, the Tax Ditch Program and the 21st Century Fund RC&D appropriation. During the past three years he has provided funding in excess of $278,000 for numerous conservation projects in New Castle County.

Throughout his career, he has always made it a priority to promote conservation. Representative Gilligan’s leadership and support have produced countless changes in public policy that have benefited not only his constituents, but Delaware as a whole. Because of the commitment and support of legislators such as Representative Gilligan, Delaware’s three conservation districts can continue their efforts in conjunction with their partners and landowners to conserve Delaware’s precious natural resources.

“As a member of the Board of Supervisors for the New Castle Conservation District, I know firsthand of Speaker Gilligan’s strong support for Conservation Districts and the environment. I was honored to present Representative Gilligan with the DACD Legislative Award on behalf of our Association,” DACD Vice President Paul Morrill Jr. said. “The continued support of legislators is critical to getting conservation work done in Delaware. We are very fortunate to have his support.”

Past recipients of this DACD award include Senators David McBride, Thurman Adams, Jr., Nancy Cook, and Gary Simpson and Representatives Bobby Quillen (deceased) and George Carey.

The DACD is a statewide organization for the supervisors of the State’s three conservation districts. DACD is a voluntary, non-profit alliance which provides a forum for discussion and coordination among the state’s Conservation Districts as they work to ensure the wise use and treatment of our natural resources.

For more information about the Delaware Association of Conservation Districts, please call 302-739-9921.

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Annual Brandywine Creek State Park Deer Hunt A Huge Success
Yields more than 600 pounds of venison for Delaware food banks and demonstrates the value of conservation.

Delaware Division of Fish and Wildlife

WILMINGTON, Del –-(AmmoLand.com)- The annual two-day managed deer hunt held in December in Brandywine Creek State Park drew 48 hunters who harvested 28 deer, sending about 630 pounds of venison to local food banks to feed Delawareans in need.

Jointly managed by the DNREC Divisions of Fish and Wildlife and Parks and Recreation, the hunt was started in 1994 to keep the number of white-tailed deer on the 1,000-acre park at a manageable level and curb the serious habitat damage caused by an unchecked deer population foraging in the park.

While the first year of the hunt was the most successful, with 60 deer harvested, this year’s harvest was similar to the previous 10-year average of 27 deer.

Hunters are selected through a pre-season lottery and must hunt from assigned deer stands. While hunters are permitted to shoot more than one deer, they must first harvest an antlerless deer to help meet the goal of controlling the deer population. Each successful hunter can keep only one deer. All others are donated to the Sportsman Against Hunger Program, which provides venison to food banks throughout the state.

Of this year’s successfully harvested deer, 71 percent, or 20 deer, were antlerless and of these 70 percent, or 14 deer, were potentially breeding female deer which are the driving factor in deer population control. Hunter generosity resulted in 54 percent, or 15 harvested deer, being donated to the Sportsmen Against Hunger Program.

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