Dan's Papers - January 30, 2009

If you enjoy hiking on Long Island, chances are you have walked in the Pine Barrens. The Central Pine Barrens comprises 102,500 acres - one fifth of Suffolk County's land mass. The pitch pine and pine-oak forests, coastal plain ponds, marshes and streams of the Rocky Point RCA Property, Robert Cushman Murphy, Otis Pike, Sarnoff Preserves, Sears Bellows, Hubbard County Parks and Red Creek Park all lie within this huge preserve. This region, in the heart of Suffolk, contains one of the greatest concentrations of endangered and threatened plants and animals in the state. The Central Pine Barrens overlies a portion of Long Island's federally designated sole source drinking water aquifer, and provides a significant portion of our drinking water. It's estimated that this 160 square miles of protected land sits atop 60 trillion gallons of high quality drinking water, available to Suffolk County's 1.4 million residents.

To protect this resource, the NYS Legislature passed the Long Island Pine Barrens Protection Act, signed into law on July 13, 1993. The act created a five-member Central Pine Barrens Joint Planning and Policy Commission. The members of the Commission are the Suffolk County executive, Brookhaven, Riverhead, and Southampton town supervisors and one Governor-appointed member. The Commission was established to create and implement a comprehensive land use plan. The Central Pine Barrens Comprehensive Land Use Plan was officially adopted on June 28, 1995. The Plan and the Commission have created three specialized councils to address operational and stewardship needs for this region: the Protected Land Council, the Law Enforcement Council and the Wildfire Task Force. These are multi-jurisdictional and encourage citizen involvement. For more information visit pb.state.ny.us/ and pinebarrens.org.

On January 9, I attended the Central Pine Barrens New Year's Staff and Cooperators Reception. About 100 people attended, including Commission, County Parks and State DEC staff. Also among the attendees were Assemblyman Fred Thiele Jr., Legislator Vivian Viloria-Fisher, Chief Deputy County Executive Jim Morgo, Brookhaven Director of Environmental Protection, John Turner, and East Hampton Town's Director of Natural Resources, Larry Penny.

Central Pine Barrens Commission (CPBC) Chair, and Governor Appointee, Peter Scully, delivered the welcoming remarks. Scully's discussion of the CPBC's 2008 accomplishments will provide you with some insight into how Governor Paterson's proposed 36 percent reduction in the Long Island Pine Barrens budget would have negative repercussions for Suffolk County residents.

Scully began by saying that 2008 was a productive year. The Commission added Melissa Griffiths, an educator working with local schools, to its staff. Lawrence Hynes finished his first full year as compliance and enforcement coordinator. Year three of the Invasive Species Assessment and Eradication Program on public land was completed. The forest and wetland ecological health monitoring protocol study was completed with the Foundation for Ecological Research in the Northeast. The Dwarf Pine Trail interpretive trailheads displays in West Hampton were erected. The ATV Damage Mitigation Project in Flanders and Hampton Bays was expanded. This multilateral group works together to repair ATV damage and eliminate illegal access points for ATVs. In 2009, State DEC, Suffolk County Parks and the Town of Brookhaven will undertake a similar effort along the upper reaches of the Carman's River. Significant progress in restoring portions of the Pine Barrens ecosystem through the use of prescribed fire was also made this year. The Wildfire and Incident Management Academy is in its 11th year and attracted 429 students from 30 states and one Canadian province.

Our watershed was protected through transfer of development rights. The Pine Barrens credit program continues to thrive. Credit sales through 2008 reached $28.6 billion and 1753 acres of Pine Barrens have been protected through this program at no cost to tax payers. In December, the Boy Scouts' 403-acre Camp Wauwepex property was protected under the CPBC credit program. Recently, the Boy Scouts sold 1.64 credits to the Town of Riverhead for $123,000 at $75,000 a credit.

The Law Enforcement Council continued its efforts to combat illegal ATV use in the Pine Barrens by impounding 155 vehicles. They are also working with Suffolk County Department of Social Services to address the problem of homeless people living in the Pine Barrens. One of the objectives that Scully proposes for 2009 is for the Commission to play a central role in advancing the concept of an overall plan to protect the Carman's River watershed.

The Central Pine Barrens Commission is a shining example of what can be accomplished when dozens of agencies and organizations work together. It is this kind of cooperative spirit that brings true progress. The CPBC does important work and deserves adequate funding from NY State.