Tucked among the malls, parkways and office buildings of central Nassau County is 100 acres of natural habitat for birds, insects and threatened plant species resembling a prairie in the Midwest.
The rare, county-owned grasslands sit adjacent to another county-owned site: The 72-acre asphalt property of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum where Las Vegas Sands has proposed a $6 billion casino-resort.
FAST FACTS ABOUT SOUTH SHORE BLUEWAY TRAIL PLAN
The water-based South Shore Blueway Trail is designed for kayakers, canoeists and other non-motorized boaters along the South Shore of Long Island. It spans the coastal waterways of Nassau County, connecting scenic spots, nature preserves, parks and other access points between the western part of the county near the Western Bays, extending toward Suffolk County.
The New York Department of State today announced the completion of the Newbridge Road Park water access point project in the Town of Hempstead as part of the South Shore Blueway Trail Plan. The completion of this new public access point adds a year-round, ADA-accessible recreation destination that connects to the access point at Seamans Neck Park in Hempstead, creating a network of water access points for individuals to experience Long Island’s South Shore.
For years, conservationists have warned that too much drinkable water is being extracted from the aquifer — a critical repository deep below Long Island — but there wasn't a lot of recent data to define the extent of the problem.
That was until an eight-year study released in August found the aquifer is "under stress," leading to saltwater intrusion, draining of some groundwater-fed streams and abandonment of degraded public wells. The authors of the study, a collaboration between the U.S. Geological Survey and the state Department of Environmental Conservation, note some of these problems date back decades and have been exacerbated by climate change.
The securing of a federal grant last month to restore three coastal wetlands in Suffolk County is the start of a lengthy process to make sure the work doesn't do as much harm as good.
The selection of the sites — Cupsogue Beach Marsh, Scully Marsh and the East Islip Preserve — and securing of funding represent years of advance work, including collecting data on tidal flooding, risk assessments and a cost-benefit analysis. The cost of restoring Cupsogue, for example, is estimated at $2 million, with losses averted totaling $50.6 million.
“We are destroying this incredible living fossil, chopping it up for bait,” New York State Assemblymember Deborah J. Glick (D-NYC) told me in an interview last week.
Ms. Glick is the author of a bill in the State Assembly, which with a companion measure in the State Senate, have passed that would protect horseshoe crabs. They would prohibit horseshoe crabs from being taken from the waters of New York State except for educational and research purposes.
“We are destroying this incredible living fossil, chopping it up for bait,” New York State Assembly Member Deborah J. Glick told me in an interview last week.
She is the author of a bill in the State Assembly which with a companion measure in the State Senate has passed that would protect horseshoe crabs. They would prohibit horseshoe crabs from being taken from the waters of New York State except for educational and research purposes.
Good morning. The Citizens Campaign for the Environment presented findings from a study of Fire Island’s wastewater challenges to the Suffolk County Legislature this week. They say the island only has one small sewage treatment plant, forcing most residents to use septic or cesspool systems. This single plant and other aging systems contribute to harmful algal blooms, and loss of fisheries in the surrounding waterways.
Experts in local government, the insurance industry, the environment and marine science explored how sea level rise could affect South Shore and North Shore communities during a nextLI Town Hall that airs Tuesday on NewsdayTV.
Albany, NY – New York State Senator Pete Harckham completed his first legislative session as chair of the Senate Environmental Conservation Committee (EnCon) recently with 89 bills passed out of committee, 44 of which passed in the Senate and 30 in both houses that now await the governor’s signature. Harckham, as committee chair, also led the budget table during the negotiations for the FY2024 Budget and ensured critical funding for a number of initiatives.
