LAND PRESERVATION
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Why is this important?
Land preservation is important on Long Island for reasons both environmental and economic. Preserved lands protect the Island’s drinking water, provide critical habitat for wildlife, ensure the viability of the Island’s farming industry and maintain the strength of its tourism sector.
How are we doing?
Over the past thirty years, New York State, both counties and numerous towns across the Island cumulatively expended just over $1 billion for the preservation nearly 56,000 of Long Island’s approximately one million acres. With experts forecasting the Island’s final build-out to take place within the next decade, the Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC) 2006 plan calls for the additional preservation of 25,000 acres of environmentally sensitive open space and 12,000 acres of working farmland before that time. These goals would leave the Island with 92,147 acres of preserved land, roughly 1/10th of its total land mass, at the time of final build out.
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Though Long Island cumulatively spent a record $163 million on preservation efforts in 2006, the 1,458 acres preserved was actually the lowest total since 2002. Representing less than 5% of the Island’s preservation goal, it would take over 20 years to preserve 37,000 acres at 2006 rates. If final build out does occur within the next decade, Long Island is on course to fall far short of its goals.
In November 2007, the voters of Suffolk County, Southold and Oyster Bay approved a cumulative total of $356 million for open space preservation and farmland protection. At the same time, voters in the Town of Brookhaven voted down a Community Preservation Fund that was to raise a projected $500 million for preservation efforts. With funding streams on Long Island potentially reaching their limit, many are turning to New York State to significantly increase its efforts if the Island is to meet its preservation goals.