Environmental activists are fighting to block the sale of a small yet important island off the coast of Eastern Long Island. WFUV’s Alexandra Parker has more on Plum Island…
http://www.wfuv.org/content/environmentalists-fight-plum-island
Paddling for Plum Island Preservation
More than 40 kayakers and one standup paddleboarder hit the water Saturday, August 18, for a feat of endurance and activism in support of the campaign to preserve Plum Island. The first Paddle for Plum Island kayaking event brought together the Long Island Paddlers kayaking group and Plum Island conservation enthusiasts to raise awareness and funds to support Save the Sound’s work to preserve Plum Island from commercial sale and development.
www.eastendbeacon.com/paddling-for-plum-island-preservation/
Feds To Prepare Further Environmental Review for Plum Island Sale
The federal government announced Friday that it plans to complete further environmental review ahead of its planned sale of Plum Island, a federally owned island that is home to an animal disease research laboratory that is being relocated to Kansas.
https://www.eastendbeacon.com/feds-to-prepare-further-environmental-review-for-plum-island-sale/
Blumenthal Responds to Tour Cancellations
Letter to Department of Homeland Security from Senator Richard Blumenthal (Conn.)
Congress blocks federal funds from marketing sale of Plum Island
The U.S. House of Representatives passed an appropriations bill Friday in the latest attempt to save Plum Island from being sold…
How to Help Save Plum Island with Letters
Here's an important way to add your voice to the Preserve Plum Island campaign. Please help.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has abruptly halted tours to Plum Island this year. Is your group one of the many organizations whose members are deeply disappointed because your tour was BOOKED and then CANCELED? Perhaps you still were hoping to book a tour this year, or loved your previous tour and have been recommending others go see Plum Island themselves.
Not only have tours been canceled, but natural history field work, such as bird counts and investigations of rare, threatened, and endangered species, and historical and archaeological research on the island has been stopped by DHS, who is giving seemingly flimsy excuses as to its rationale.
Please read the two articles below and consider writing a letter to the editor on behalf of your organization. It needn’t be long. You might give your group’s unique perspective on why halting the tours makes no sense.
Keeping Plum Island in the news and showing your strong interest helps the preservation cause! Please take a moment to read the articles below and weigh in on this important issue.
Write your letter to: joew@timesreview.com or use the online form at http://timesreview.com/write-the-editor/.
2. http://easthamptonstar.com/Government/2018628/Plum-Island-Tours-Ended
Write your letter to: letters@easthamptonstar.com
Thank you for helping to save Plum Island!
Louise Harrison
New York Natural Areas Coordinator
P.S. Send us your letter and with your permission we'll share it on social media so we may spread the word even further. Even if you don’t wish it shared that way (let us know that), it would be great to see your letter. You are important in keeping our campaign strong!
For more action items, please visit www.preserveplumisland.org.
Plum Island Tours Ended
Suffolk Times
" Until recently, groups of 10 to 25 people were able to visit Plum Island, an uninhabited 840-acre question-mark-shape island in Long Island Sound and a wildlife sanctuary a mile and a half off Orient Point named for its beach plums."
Plum Island tours halted by Homeland Security
Suffolk Times
"Tours of federally owned Plum Island have been halted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, citing pending litigation and the anticipated relocation of operations from the island."
Fantasy Island
East Hampton Star
"NAZI SCIENTISTS? WEAPONIZED LYME DISEASE? CREEPY EXPERIMENTS IN GENETIC MUTATION? NO. WHAT SCARES LONG ISLANDERS TODAY ABOUT PLUM ISLAND, AMERICA'S MOST MYSTERIOUS RESEARCH FACILITY, IS THE THREAT THAT IT WILL SOON BE SOLD TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER."
The Battle to Preserve Plum Island
Connecticut Magazine
The island where the world’s most dangerous animal diseases are studied has long been a magnet for conspiracy theorists. But Plum Island’s real-life history and the battle over its future are just as strange.