Plum Island Coalition Update
Winter 2010 Update
While there has been no definitive action to
date to preserve the 843 acre Plum Island, by having it
become Long Island’s eighth National Wildlife Refuge,
there have been several recent positive developments in
our efforts in this regard.
On October 19, 2010 the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
sent a letter to the Director of the Division of Real
Property Utilization and Disposal of the General
Services Administration (GSA) in which the Service
contends that the GSA is bound to transfer the island to
the Service based on several previously adopted federal
statutes. The Service is challenging GSA’s contention
that the agency may sell the island due to federal
legislation which authorizes it sale pusuant to an
appropriations bill passed by Congress in 2009. The
Service’s legal view is supported by several cases
decided by the federal courts. Attorneys from several of
the Coalition’s organizational members are reviewing the
legal merits of the USFWS position and the Coalition
recently wrote to the Acting Director of the Service
commending him for taking such a strong and decisive
stand on the issue (You can see a copy of these letters
on the Preserve Plum Island website at
www.preserveplumisland.org).
On another totally different front Congress asked the
National Research Council, a branch of the National
Academies of Science, to review a risk assessment
prepared by the Department of Homeland Security for the
new lab, proposed to replace the Plum Island lab, and to
be located in Kansas. The NRC found there is a 70%
chance that germs or pathogens will leak from the new
lab sometime over the next 50 years and cause an adverse
economic impact on the nation’s livestock of between $9
and $50 billion. This finding serves to undercut the
argument for moving the lab from Plum Island. And if the
lab stays at Plum Island the rationale for selling the
island will disappear!
We will continue to keep you updated as events
develop in our ongoing efforts to preserve this
environmentally siginifcant island.
Summer 2010 Update
Much has happened since we last reported to you
earlier this year about our efforts to preserve Plum
Island, an 840 acre island situated off Orient Point at
the tip of the North Fork, by dedicating all or a
significant fraction of it as Long Island’s newest
National Wildlife Refuge!
Presently, the federal legislation which authorized the
sale of Plum Island to a private party is still in
effect and the General Services Administration (GSA) is
moving forward to prepare a Draft Environmental Impact
Statement (DEIS) under the National Environmental Policy
Act 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 of
which all Long Island Audubon chapters are a part. The
mission of the Coalition is to have Congress reverse
course on Plum Island by introducing and passing
legislation which protects most or all of the Island by
having it transferred to the US Fish and Wildlife
Service as a National Wildlife Refuge.
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 that a complete
and accurate assessment of the impacts development might
have on these species and communities can be considered.
Regarding alternatives in addition to considering the
sale of the entire island for development purposes we
asked the GSA to consider selling part of the island for
development (the already disturbed footprint) while
selling the 85-90% of the island that’s undeveloped for
conservation purposes. A number of other individuals and
organizations spoke expressing their concerns. Of
greatest note was the most welcome joint letter from the
Environmental Protection Agency’s two regional offices,
the US 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.
We already know much about the ecological worth of the
island. For example, the narrow eastern portion of the
island serves as a seal haul-out site for as many as
several hundred harbor and grey seals during the colder
months, making it one of, if not the most significant
haul-out site in southern New England. Piping plovers, a
federally threatened species, breed on the island and
common and roseate terns, a federally endangered
species, rest on the beaches of this undisturbed setting
and feed actively in the waters surrounding the island
as do numerous species of loons, grebes, and sea ducks.
The shrubby coastal vegetation that covers the island
(including extensive thickets of beach plum which gave
the island its name) provides habitat for several dozen
breeding birds as well as important migratory stopover
habitat for migrating species. This latter feature has
been shown to be important for songbird species
migrating over water in that it allows them an
opportunity to land and feed, thereby replenishing their
energy reserves. A large freshwater wetland exists in
the southwestern part of the Island. Cultural resources
on the island include the Plum Island Lighthouse and the
remains of Fort Terry, an old military fortification.
These remains include a railroad track on which a small
gauge railroad once ran, carrying munitions to needed
parts of the island.
Other recent activities by LI Audubon Council
representatives on behalf of the Coalition include:
- LIAC reps. met with Newsday’s editorial staff
which resulted in an editorial favorable to the
Coalition’s position; on Monday May 10th Newsday ran
an editorial entitled “Keep it Wild, but with jobs”.
- LIAC met with staff from Senator Chuck Schumer’s
to explain the Coalition’s perspective. Senator
Schumer is very interested in the Coalition’s idea
of preserving the Island.
- LIAC reps appeared on Bob DeLuca’s East End
Radio show “Going Green” to discuss the fate of Plum
Island.
- As stated above LIAC spoke at May 20th GSA
hearing in Greenport dealing with the proposed
disposition of Plum Island.
- LIAC reps. met with the Southold Town Board and
Conservation Advisory Council to express the
Coalition’s support for the creation of a National
Wildlife Refuge.
- Through the committed effort of Stella Miller,
HOBAS Chapter President,
an online petition
(www.thepetitionsite.com/1/preserve-plum-island), a
Facebook page (Preserve Plum Island) and a website
(www.preserveplumisland.org) have been created.
Please take the time to
sign the petition and check
out the website and
Facebook page for current news
on this issue!
Stay tuned as the story concerning the fate of this environmentally significant island
unfolds in the weeks and months ahead.
John Turner
Conservation Chair
Huntington - Oyster Bay Audubon Society
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