Partnership Leads to Thriving Monarch Butterfly Habitat

In 2014, Chesapeake Conservancy, in partnership with Delaware Department of Natural Resources & Environmental Control (DNREC) & The Conservation Fund, conserved 17.7 acres of land along Chapel Branch, a tributary to the Nanticoke River near Seaford, DE.

The property, known as the Moore Property, was purchased by The Conservation Fund using funds from the Delaware Open Space Program & a grant from the Chesapeake Conservancy. Mt. Cuba Center & Longwood Foundation have generously supported conservation along the Nanticoke River. To ensure the perpetual protection of this property, it was transferred to the Nanticoke River Watershed Conservancy & a conservation easement was created for the property now held by DNREC, Division of Fish and Wildlife.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Chesapeake Bay Field Office provided funding for monarch habitat restoration on the property which is nearby two national refuges. We recently visited the site and found a thriving butterfly habitat!