Delaware Phragmites Control Cost-Share Program

Delaware's Division of Fish and Wildlife offers financial assistance to private landowners for controlling invasive Phragmites through helicopter-based herbicide application.

Eligible landowners must have between 5 and 200 acres of Phragmites on their property to treat, on private lands only. Tax ditches are ineligible because the program relies on aerial application methods.

The program covers helicopter spraying costs. Landowners receive bills after statewide spraying concludes, typically in October or November. Pricing fluctuates annually since the Division bids out the contracts for helicopter services and chemicals each year. The herbicide is broad-spectrum; the Division uses helicopters rather than fixed-wing aircraft to reduce drift, and landowners may request no-spray buffer zones. The program does not cover ground treatment of remaining Phragmites.

Contact James Joachimowski, Impoundment/Habitat Biologist, at 302-725-3638. Landowners may also request no-spray buffer zones around sensitive areas by contacting the Division beforehand.