P R E S E R V I N G
Plum Island
BY JOHN L. TURNER
I
As a first step, the GSA is preparing a Draft Environmental Impact Statement
(DEIS) to assess the environmental impact of several potential development scenarios. On May 20th the GSA held a hearing to solicit public input on issues relevant
to the sale of the Island. A number of individuals and representatives from environmental organizations spoke, including many groups that are part of a
newly formed “Preserve Plum Island” Coalition. The mission of the Coalition is to have Congress reverse course on Plum Island by passing legislation which protects most or all of the Island by designating it as a National
Wildlife Refuge administered by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
In its comments to the GSA the Coalition urged that a complete and full
four-season ecological/biological inventory be undertaken on the Island so
Photos by Luke Ormand
John Turner is director of the Division of Environmental Protection for the Town of
Brookhaven and a spokesperson for the Preserve Plum Island Coalition. He is the author of a
children’s book on water conservation, Waylon's Wandering Water Drop and a 2nd edition
of a naturalist's guide to Long Island - Exploring the Other Island: A Seasonal Guide to Nature on Long Island, currently being published. He is a co-founder of the LI Pine Barrens Society and adjunct professor at the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at SUNY
Stony Brook.
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that a complete and accurate assessment of the impacts development might have on
these species and communities can be considered. In regard to possible development alternatives, the Coalition asked the GSA to consider selling part of the island
for development (the already disturbed footprint) while keeping the 85-90% of the
island that’s undeveloped for conservation purposes. A number of other individuals
and organizations spoke expressing their concerns over the island’s disposition.
These included, of greatest note, the most welcome joint letter from the Environmental Protection Agency’s two regional offices, the letter from the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, and especially the letter from Congressman Bishop in which he
stated his support, publicly for the first time, for the establishment of a National
Wildlife Refuge at Plum Island.
For more information regarding the resources of Plum Island and the efforts of
the Preserve Plum Island Coalition, visit the Coalition’s website at www.preserveplumisland.org. A new Facebook page and a petition page (www.thepetitionsite.com/1/preserve-plum-island) in which you can register your support for
preserving the island have also been created. Please take the time to sign the petition. ■
NETWORKING August/September 2010 45
magine an 850-acre island and, although situated in the New York metropolitan
area, it possesses desolate sand and cobble beaches with panoramic vistas of the
eastern reaches of Peconic Bay where it joins the wave tossed Atlantic Ocean. An
island which, during a winter visit, will reveal several dozen to several hundred
seals - mostly harbor seals, but a few grey-loafing like crescent-shaped kielbasa on
the near-shore rocks or bobbing in the waters surrounding it, revealing their presence when they surface to look around with doelike eyes. Amidst and beyond the seals
hundreds of seabirds - sea ducks,
loons, and cormorants - float on the
surface, occasionally diving
below it in pursuit of prey or
flying in countless skeins to
and fro over the waves
while northern gannets
plunge from three stories
high into skirmishing
schools of fish.
Imagine this island
that along its shoreline
young powder puff piping plover babies feed on
food in the wrack line,
noisy oystercatchers call
and young roseate terns loaf
and preen. On one section of
shoreline bank swallows have
set up residency in the bluffs
above the sand beach. Here, these
aerodynamic birds, looking like little
tiny jet fighters, fly around ceaselessly, entering and leaving the colony of burrows they’ve
dug out from the bluff face that overlooks the water.
The island reveals to a visitor exploring its interior trails forests
of blackjack oak, black cherry and shadbush from which towhees
sing their “drink-your-tea” song and then, surprisingly, a large
freshwater swamp filled with tupelo trees and hosts of aquatic
plants. The curious visitor passes by the remains of some railroad
tracks once connected to an island-wide fort system, then soon,
below one of seven active osprey nests, hears the ki-ki-ki call of a
protective adult, and ends by approaching the base of a stolidly
built lighthouse positioned on the islands’ edge to appreciate its architecture.
In summary, it’s an island which offers so much to the lover of
the outdoors, whether they be a hiker, lover of forts or lighthouses,
seal admirer, bird watcher, picker of beach plums, or to anyone
who just loves beautiful seascapes.
Now here’s where you don’t need any imagination at all because this island, with
all these assets and more, is very much a reality and it sits at the end of Long Island’s bony North Fork - it is Plum Island. And better yet - you don’t need to imagine this island to be publicly owned because it is. As a federal property, Plum Island
is, with all of these values and assets, owned by each and everyone of us.
But imagination turns to nightmare when you learn that, with not a single ounce
of input from either the American public or affected Long Island communities, Congress approved legislation signed by President George Bush, to sell the island to the
highest private bidder.
Why the sale? Congress has decided that the Animal Disease Control Facility on
Plum Island, which takes up only about 10-15% of the island, has outlived its usefulness and wants to use the sale of the island to help offset the cost of constructing an
$800 million modern, state-of-the-art animal disease control research facility in
Kansas.
This sale of the island runs counter to the traditional approach the federal government uses concerning surplus property. Typically, in such cases (such as with the
nearby example regarding the disposition of surplused Coast Guard property on
Block Island which became a National Wildlife Refuge), the General Services Administration (GSA), responsible for disposing of unneeded land and property,
reaches out to other federal agencies to see if they had any interest in or use for the
property. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service did and the Block Island property became a refuge. The same process has resulted in dozens of other protected refuges
and parks. Unfortunately, this standard practice was not followed for Plum Island
and the GSA is moving forward to fulfill its Congressional dictate to sell the island.
In summary, it’s an island which offers so
much to the lover of the outdoors, whether
they be a hiker, lover of forts or lighthouses,
seal admirer, bird watcher, picker of
beach plums, or to anyone who just
loves beautiful seascapes.