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The Economic Value of the Delaware Inland Bays

Tuesday, September 6th, 2022

September 6, 2022- The Delaware Center for the Inland Bays (CIB) and the Delaware Sea Grant College Program have completed a first-ever assessment of the Economic Value of the Delaware Inland Bays, which reports that the Inland Bays generate over $4.5 billion in annual economic activity and support over 35,000 jobs. A key finding of the study is that the economic contributions are felt locally – 89 percent of the economic activity and 94 percent of the jobs occur in Sussex County.

The report was authored by Christian Hauser of Delaware Sea Grant and Christopher Bason of CIB. Key-Log Economics, an independent ecological and economic research firm based in Charlottesville, Va., performed the data analysis. Key-Log helps focus ecological and economic information on land use issues and ecosystem management.

Here are some of the highlights of the economic reporting:

  • Economic activity within the Inland Bays study region provides tax revenue to federal, state, and county governments estimated at $458 million.
  • The Bays’ thriving marina and boating economy contributes $76 million in activity
  • Accommodations, including at least 13 privately operated RV and tent campgrounds near the Inland Bays, contribute $144 million in activity and over 1,000 jobs.
  • The study cites research indicating that in 2019, 7.5 million visitors came to Sussex County and that tourism is now the fourth largest employer in the state.

 

Download the PDF report here

Economic Valuation of the Inland Bays FINAL HIGH REZ 080222

 

The Delaware Sea Grant College Program was established in 1976 to promote the wise use, conservation, and management of Delaware’s coastal resources. To achieve this mandate, Delaware Sea Grant leverages federal and state funding to provide financial support to external partners for innovative research, community development, and conservation projects. Our staff also provide one-on-one consultations, deliver workshops and trainings, develop balanced written assessments, and lead hands-on projects regarding a diverse array of issues pertaining to healthy coastal ecosystems, resilient communities and economies, sustainable fisheries and aquaculture, and environmental literacy. Benefits of this work are provided to a diverse array of stakeholders, including communities, elected officials, industry, and other non-profit organizations.

The Delaware Center for the Inland Bays is a nonprofit organization established in 1994 and is one of 28 National Estuary Programs. With its many partners, the Center works to preserve, protect and restore Delaware’s Inland Bays and their watershed. To achieve its mission, the center facilitates the implementation of the Inland Bays Comprehensive Conservation and management Plan, conducts public outreach and education, develops and implements water quality and habitat restoration projects, conducts research, and supports public policy. Authors: Christian A. Hauser, Delaware Sea Grant College Program Christopher W. Bason, Delaware Center for the Inland Bays.

 

Tuesday, July 2nd, 2019

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Tuesday, July 2nd, 2019

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No Tricks, All Trees…Planted at Assawoman Wildlife Area

Thursday, October 25th, 2018

Ocean View, DE — The Delaware Center for the Inland Bays, Delaware Division of Fish & Wildlife, and volunteers came together on Saturday, October 20th to plant 325 trees at Sassafras Landing in the Assawoman Wildlife Area.

Throughout the morning, 37 volunteers of all ages planted trees, showed off their costumes, designed their own recycled bird feeders, discovered the origins of some spooky skulls, played games, and explored why forests are so important for better water quality and as wildlife habitat.

Between 1992 and 2012, the Inland Bays watershed lost 14 square miles of ecologically-important forested areas. Not only does this harm the wildlife that depends on these forests (native birds, foxes, turtles, etc.), it also negatively affects the water quality of our creeks, rivers, and Bays.

Center Restoration Project Manager, Victoria Spice (right), helps Jaxon Vanderhook plant a tree as mom, Sheena, supervises.

 

“When we replace forests with homes, roads, businesses, or parking lots, we are creating more impervious “hardened” surfaces for rainwater to pick up pollutants and wash them into our waterways,” explains Victoria Spice, the Center’s Restoration Project Manager. “But if we allow forests to grow and thrive, they can help reduce stormwater runoff and can even absorb and filter the rain, allowing it to enter our groundwater — where much of our drinking water comes from.” This reforestation project alone will reduce nitrogen by 59.5 lbs per year and phosphorus by 1.4 lbs per year, create four acres of rich interior forest habitat, and sequester 6.9 million pounds of carbon dioxide over the next 20 years.

This project was a partnership between the Delaware Center for the Inland Bays and the Delaware Division of Fish & Wildlife and furthers the Center’s Inland Bays Pollution Control Strategy goal to establish forested waterway buffers in the Inland Bays watershed, the Delaware Inland Bays Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan’s goals to provide forested buffers that reduce nutrient loading to the bays, and the 2015-2025 Delaware Wildlife Action Plan that calls for re-establishment of coastal plain forest habitats lost to fragmentation that can enhance and protect both biodiversity and water quality.

Additional plantings will take place this Spring between March and April. Part of the Center’s Watershed Reforestation Plan, two additional reforestation projects we will take place on Double Bridges Road in the Assawoman Wildlife Area and within a buffer property at the Sussex County Landfill. For more information, or to get your large group involved, please contact Victoria Spice at vspice@inlandbays.org.

Quinton Ashman, Bryanna Lisiewski, Sedona Ashman, Sue Sigvardson, Mrs. Delaware Earth, Bob Collins, Maeva Colona, and Avery, Addison, and Eugene Isaac pose in their costumes.

The Delaware Center for the Inland Bays is a non-profit organization established in 1994 and is one of 28 National Estuary Programs.  With its many partners, the CIB works to preserve, protect and restore Delaware’s Inland Bays–the water that flows into them, and the watershed around them.

 

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Delaware Center for the Inland Bays Seeks Volunteers for Fish Survey

Friday, March 18th, 2016

The Delaware Center for the Inland Bays (CIB) seeks volunteers to assist with the 2016 Inshore Fish Monitoring Program. This all-volunteer effort is studying the fish population of the Inland Bays at seventeen sites around the three Inland Bays and their tributaries.

An orientation program will be held on Thursday, March 31 at 5:30 pm at the CIB office located on Inlet Road in Delaware Seashore State Park on the north side of Indian River Inlet. For more information, or to RSVP for the meeting, contact Andrew McGowan at environment@inlandbays.org or at (302) 226-8105 x112.

Delaware’s Inland Bays are home to over one hundred species of fish. The Inshore Fish Monitoring Survey is a citizen science program that over time will reveal trends in fish populations in the Inland Bays. 2011 was the first year of this long term study.

There are volunteer opportunities on the fish survey both in and out of the water; pulling seine nets, collecting water samples, recording data and assisting with data management. Each team conducts surveys one or two days per month from April through October.

The Center for the Inland Bays is a non-profit organization established in 1994 to preserve, protect, and restore Delaware’s Inland Bays, the water that flows into them, and the watershed around them. With its many partners, the CIB conducts public outreach and education, develops and implements restoration projects, encourages scientific inquiry
and sponsors research. For more information, go to inlandbays.org

Dr. Emily Seldomridge named Watershed Coordinator at the Center for the Inland Bays

Monday, January 11th, 2016

Rehoboth Beach, DE: The Delaware Center for the Inland Bays (CIB) is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Emily Seldomridge to the position of Watershed Coordinator, a new position at the CIB.

In this position, Dr. Seldomridge will coordinate with partner organizations to implement, track and report progress made on the Inland Bays Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP), the ‘blueprint for actions that should be undertaken by all levels of government, industrial and business sectors, private and public organizations and institutions and the general public to restore and protect the Inland Bays.’ This work will include implementation of the Inland Bays Pollution Control Strategy.

Dr. Seldomridge brings experience in watershed planning, public policy, water quality monitoring, and stakeholder engagement and outreach. She holds a holds a B.S. in Biology from Salisbury University, an M.S. in Marine-Estuarine-Environmental Sciences and a Ph.D. in Geology from the University of Maryland.

Chris Bason, Executive Director of the CIB said, “The expertise and experience that Dr. Seldomridge brings to our team will strengthen our partnerships and integrate best available science into watershed-scale planning and implementation.”

Prior to joining the Center, Emily lived and worked in Texas, passing up a Fulbright Scholarship to Germany in favor of a research and development position with Texas Tech University: “The unique beauty of the Texas Hill Country captured my heart and research curiosity”, she said.

In Texas, Dr. Seldomridge developed a Watershed Protection Plan for the Upper Llano Watershed as part of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Healthy Watersheds Initiative. She later accepted a job with the Galveston Bay Foundation on the Texas Living Waters Project, a plan aimed to better protect springs, rivers, and estuaries by transforming the public policy used to manage and allocate water.

The move to the Delmarva Peninsula was spurred by a desire to return to her roots: “My soul never left Delmarva. I spent my childhood on the banks of the Wicomico River, swimming, fishing, or wading in the mud at low tide. I want to preserve these special memories and the environment where they were made so that others can experience the same connection with nature.

I believe that water is the connecting ribbon not only of watersheds, but also of communities. I will use my multidisciplinary training in water resources to lead watershed planning efforts for the Delaware Center for Inland Bays.”

The Delaware Center for the Inland Bay is one of 28 National Estuary Programs; a non-profit organization established in 1994 to promote the wise use and enhancement of the Inland Bays and its watershed. With its many partners, the CIB conducts public outreach and education, develops and implements restoration projects, encourages scientific inquiry, and sponsors research.

Love Creek Survey

Tuesday, July 22nd, 2014

If Love Creek is YOUR creek, we need your input! Click here to take our Love Creek Survey…it only takes a few minutes! Survey is here »

Inland Bays Living Shoreline Project

Wednesday, March 19th, 2014


Center for the Inland Bays Living Shoreline Project.

Shoreline erosion and flooding were a concern at Bethany Beach. The Center for the Inland Bays built a living shoreline to dampen waves and help the marsh rebuild.

Salt Marsh

Wednesday, December 1st, 2010

The salt marsh is that grassy place were sea gives way to land. At its very edge, washed by tides twice daily…the heat and wind and salt and sea defeat all but a few well adapted plants. Salt marsh cordgrass is the dominant plant that gives our salt marshes their carpet of green. And, in places, one finds some succulent glasswort, once pickled for food. Mussels cling to its seaward edges, and a close up inspection finds it teeming with life.

The salt marsh is one of the most productive ecosystems on earth supporting a huge biomass. The unseen mass below ground of roots and rhizome, may be twice that which you can see. It stores a reservoir of nutrients and chemicals, in its plant tissue and sediments Often called the nursery of the sea, the rich detritus, made up of decomposing organisms, nourishes young fish and crabs who find both food and shelter from predators. Reptiles, amphibians, worms, insects, snails and tiny crustaceans find food and are food in this rich web of life.

Niches in time as well as space.

Animals must compete for food with other animals; nesting birds in spring will sing to proclaim their territory and ward off competitors from nesting too close. But some animals with competing needs occupy the same space, but at different times of year. The Northern Harrier and the Osprey occupy the same habitat and prey on many of the same animals, but the osprey arrives in mid March and leaves at the end of summer, and the harrier arrives in the fall and stays for the winter, so they are not competitors.

Welcoming places for migratory birds

In autumn, flocks of migratory waterfowl stop to feed in the salt marshes, and many stay for the winter finding both food and shelter there.

What do salt marshes do for us?

  1. Salt marshes are buffers between land and sea; storing water, and trapping sediments and nutrients before the water is released to the Bays.
  2. These giant sponges can hold huge quantities of water, releasing it slowly to the ground, and protecting us from flooding during storm events.
  3. Salt marshes are shock absorbers, slowing the waves driven in by the wind of hurricanes and storms

What can we do for them?

Take Action! Advocate for good public policy that protects our salt marshes.