Planning Documents & Publications

The Division’s mission is to provide Delaware’s residents and visitors with safe and enjoyable recreational opportunities and open spaces, responsible stewardship of the lands and the cultural and natural resources that we have been entrusted to protect and manage, and resource-based interpretive and educational services.  The Division is able to carry out the mission through comprehensive planning balancing resource management with recreational needs of the community. 

The planning process within the Division takes on a different approach than the tradition statewide Master Plan.  To allow for long-term planning and short-term adjustments, the Division utilizes a multitude of plans that feed into a larger Strategic Plan or Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan (SCORP) for implementation. 

The planning is done in a manner that gathers input from staff of all locations and positions, State Parks Friends organizations, stakeholder groups, guests to the parks, and even those that do not frequent the parks. The Division is responsible for many planning efforts, including the creation and management of the following:

Strategic Plans

Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan (SCORP)

Capital Plans

State Park Master Plans

Nature Preserve Management Plans

Trail Plans

Interpretive Plans

Annual Reports

Park Specific Annual Reports

General