Delaware’s Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) is adding acreage to a Kent County nature preserve.
It makes the only state preserve within a municipal boundary even bigger.
DNREC recently acquired 41 acres of land adjacent to the Fork Branch Nature Preserve located at the corner of Dennys and Kenton Roads in Kent County.
“This 41 acres adds to the existing 260-acre nature preserve that we have within the City of Dover limits,” said Elena Stewart, a land preservation specialist for Delaware State Parks. “It’s a mature forest within the City of Dover limits. So, it’s really neat because when you park there and you go to enter the trail, you walk into mature woods and don’t even feel like you’re within the City of Dover limits. It’s a packed gravel trail.”
Stewart says the acquisition is the last major portion of open land acquired by the state from the children of late Dr. James and Anne McClements. Dr. McClements was an obstetrician who practiced in Dover from 1957 until he died in 2016.
The Fork Branch Nature Preserve was created when Dr. McClements sold 247 acres of his land to the State in 2003. His children then donated 5.62 acres additional acres to the State in 2019.
The new acquisition is called the Burns Tract - after Tom Burns - a local realtor and advisor to the McClements family - who helped facilitate the deal.
The state used $900,000 from DNREC’s Open Space Program to purchase the Burns Tract. Stewart says the McClements family returned $90,000 to the preserve’s permanent endowment for maintenance and future expansion.
"We invite the public to come check out the trail," said Stewart. "There’s a small parking lot off of Kenton Road - it’s just south of Dennys Road. And it’s a one-mile loop that’s best to be enjoyed with your family or your leashed pets.”
