WINDSOR, Conn. — Hurricane Sandy survivors beware: There may be con artists trying to get their hands on your disaster assistance money or personal financial information.

After a disaster, crooks may pretend to be employed by FEMA or the U.S. Small Business Administration. They may try to obtain personal information such as Social Security and bank account numbers or they may promise to increase your disaster assistance grant for a fee, something a federal employee would never do.

Some consumer safety tips to remember:

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DOVER (Jan. 16, 2013) – The Delaware Division of Fish and Wildlife will host a public workshop outlining DNREC’s proposed certification program for Delaware’s nuisance wildlife control operators at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 22 in the Richardson and Robbins Building auditorium, 89 Kings Highway, Dover.

TRENTON, N.J. -- Getting free advice on how to repair or rebuild your home to minimize future disaster damage is as easy as visiting your local home improvement store. Specialists from FEMA will offer their expertise on building techniques that can help protect your home, business or other property.

This free service also offers information and publications on topics such as:

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Calling for nominations to honor outstanding accomplishments to the topographic mapping mission of the USGS

If you have ever used a topographic map to find your way around a remote part of the country, or if you've ever noticed how geographic names reflect the history of the land and the culture of its inhabitants, you’ll appreciate the pioneering work of Henry Gannett.  Gannett, an early American geographer, is often considered to be the father of topographic mapping in the United States.

To commemorate Gannett’s varied contributions to and passions for our nation's geography and cartography, the U.S. Geological Survey is accepting nominations for the 2013 Henry Gannett Award.

Eligibility: Any individual or group of individuals working as a team, contractors, citizen groups, youth, and private sector entities, non-government organizations, and representatives of Federal, State, local and tribal governments whose contributions advance the USGS’ National Geospatial Program (NGP) objectives and programs are eligible to receive this award. This award may be given to any combination of entities that meet the award criteria.

Nomination Process: Each nomination package will be submitted in electronic form through the award website and include justification and related nomination information. Nominations are due February 26, 2013. The award will be presented at The National Map Users Conference and Community for Data Integration Workshop and Training during an award ceremony in May 2013.

"This award commemorates the USGS' first Chief Geographer from 1882-1914 and his (Gannett's) tremendous contributions to topographic mapping in the United States," said Mark DeMulder, the Director of the NGP. "This is a unique opportunity to honor significant contributions to an individual or group of individuals that have furthered USGS topographic mapping of the Nation."

For complete award information, nomination guidelines and history about the Gannett awards, visit the USGS Henry Gannett website.

HONOLULU — While the iconic Haleakalā silversword plant made a strong recovery from early 20th-century threats, it has now entered a period of substantial climate-related decline. New research published this week warns that global warming may have severe consequences for the silversword in its native habitat. 

Known for its striking rosette, the silversword grows for 20-90 years before the single reproductive event at the end of its life, at which time it produces a large (up to six feet tall) inflorescence with as many as 600 flower heads. The plant was in jeopardy in the early 1900s due to animals eating the plants and visitors gathering them. With successful management, including legal protection and the physical exclusion of hoofed animals, the species made a strong recovery, but since the mid-1990s it has entered a period of substantial decline. A strong association of annual population growth rates with patterns of precipitation suggests the plants are undergoing increasingly frequent and lethal water stress. Local climate data confirm trends towards warmer and drier conditions on the mountain, which the researchers warn will create a bleak outlook for the threatened silverswords if climate trends continue. 

 "The silversword example foreshadows trouble for diversity in other biological hotspots," said Dr. Paul Krushelnycky, a biologist with the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, and principal investigator for the project, "and it also illustrates how even well-protected and relatively abundant species may succumb to climate-induced stresses." 

"The silversword is an amazing story of selective biological adaptation of this distant cousin of the daisy to the high winds and sometimes freezing temperatures on the high slopes and thin soils of Haleakalā volcano," said USGS Director Marcia McNutt. "Despite the successful efforts of the National Park Service to protect this very special plant from local disturbance from humans and introduced species, we now fear that these actions alone may be insufficient to secure this plant's future. No part of our planet is immune from the impacts of climate change." 

The Haleakalā silversword (Argyroxyphium sandwicense macrocephalum) grows only on a single volcano summit in Hawaiʻi, yet it is viewed by 1–2 million visitors annually at Haleakalā National Park. Although the decline and extinction of other rare species with small ranges (and the accompanying loss of biodiversity) can easily go unobserved and unappreciated, the silversword’s high profile makes it a good example with which to educate the public about global climate change. 

Krushelnycky co-authored the paper along with Lloyd Loope, scientist emeritus with the U.S. Geological Survey, and others at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, and University of Arizona. They explain that although climate change is predicted to place mountaintop and other narrowly endemic species such as the silversword at severe risk of extinction, the ecological processes involved in such extinctions are still poorly understood, and they are hoping to increase this understanding. 

This report is the first publication to result from a collaborative effort between research scientists and land managers at Haleakalā National Park seeking to understand worrying trends for this popular federally threatened plant. The work was facilitated and funded by the National Park Service, along with U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Dr. Krushelnycky and his collaborators were also awarded a grant by the newly established U.S. Department of the Interior Pacific Islands Climate Science Center, one of eight such centers throughout the country, to continue the work. 

The full report, "Climate-Associated Population Declines Reverse Recovery and Threaten Future of an Iconic High-Elevation Plant," published in the scientific journal Global Change Biology, is available on request from the above contacts.

DOVER (Jan. 15, 2013) – The Recycling Public Advisory Council (RPAC) will meet from 10 a.m. - noon Thursday, Jan. 24, at DNREC’s Lewes facility, 901 Pilottown Road, Lewes, DE 19958.

DOVER (Jan. 11, 2013) – The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control will hold the second of three public hearings Monday, Jan. 14 in Dover, in support of Executive Order 36, Governor Jack Markell’s effort to strengthen Delaware’s economy by modernizing and streamlining regulations that may be outdated or unnecessarily burdensome, while maintaining the state’s commitment to improving public health and environmental performance.

DOVER (Jan. 8, 2013) – For the 2013 Governor’s Week of Service from Jan. 11 to 21, the DNREC Divisions of Fish and Wildlife and Parks and Recreation are looking for volunteers to help with winter projects at state wildlife areas and state parks.

SEAFORD (Jan. 9, 2013) – The DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife will hold a public meeting from 4 to 6 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 24 to receive public comments on a plan to demolish a structure on a new state property near Seaford to make way for a public canoe/kayak launch. The meeting will be held at the Woodland United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall, 5123 Woodland Church Road, Seaford.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012:  Another successful GIS Day Field Trip for 5th graders in Delaware!

This field trip provided a hands-on learning experience for nearly 280 students throughout Delaware.  Activities included the Earth Balloon, GIS Scavenger Hunt, Flight Simulator, What is GIS?,  Mapping Connections, Map Jeopardy, a hands-on GIS lesson using a weTable, along with tours of the Air Mobility Command (AMC)  Museum’s Control Tower to learn about air traffic control.

The GIS Day Committee would like to thank the volunteers which made this day such a success. From the GIS Professionals who provided the station activities to the students’ tour guides.  We’d also like to express our sincere gratitude to the AMC Museum for hosting our GIS Day event for the 5th year and their volunteer staff for staffing several stations and enriching the student’s learning experience.

This event was sponsored by Artesian Resources, DelaSoft, Esri, JMT, Tidewater Utilities, Inc. and the Dover AMC Museum – thank you for your continued support!

Wednesday, November 14, 2012:  Another successful GIS Day Field Trip for 5th graders in Delaware!

This field trip provided a hands-on learning experience for nearly 280 students throughout Delaware.  Activities included the Earth Balloon, GIS Scavenger Hunt, Flight Simulator, What is GIS?,  Mapping Connections, Map Jeopardy, a hands-on GIS lesson using a weTable, along with tours of the Air Mobility Command (AMC)  Museum’s Control Tower to learn about air traffic control.

The GIS Day Committee would like to thank the volunteers which made this day such a success. From the GIS Professionals who provided the station activities to the students’ tour guides.  We’d also like to express our sincere gratitude to the AMC Museum for hosting our GIS Day event for the 5th year and their volunteer staff for staffing several stations and enriching the student’s learning experience.

This event was sponsored by Artesian Resources, DelaSoft, Esri, JMT, Tidewater Utilities, Inc. and the Dover AMC Museum – thank you for your continued support!