Today’s Great Cypress Swamp differs markedly from historical records, with estimates of its original size ranging up to 60,000 acres. However, with hundreds of years of agricultural ditching and draining, extensive timbering, and two major historical fires, including one rumored to have been sparked by an explosion of a prohibition-era still, its acreage has dwindled. That peat fire burned underground for eight years, hence the name “Burnt Swamp” coined by the locals.
In an effort to protect what remains, Delaware Wild Lands has worked to consolidate 10,000 acres in Sussex County, Delaware, and Worcester County, Maryland. Acquired over the course of 35 years, the property is the largest land holding owned by the not-for-profit conservation group, and represents the largest freshwater wetland and contiguous block of forestland in the state of Delaware.