PARCnassau

Park Advocacy & Recreation Council of Nassau. A coalition of 150 park advocacy and/or user groups with a combined membership of over 250,000 county residents.

Monday, May 30, 2011

Update- Sands Point Preserve

Last November, Chris Twarowsky, of the Long Island Press wrote a scathing column on the transgressions of the Friends of Sand Point Preserve.

http://longislandpress.com/2010/11/11/sands-point-preserve-is-being-destroyed-by-the-people-entrusted-to protect it.

It detailed the wanton destruction of the flora and fauna within the preserve. The article also included a quote from First Deputy County Executive Rob Walker who said:
“At the end of the day, come January 1st, I think we are very comfortable in essence of us taking back the maintenance of the facility. We've let that be known to the Friends group, not with a lot of fanfare—obviously they weren't too happy with that. But, we're prepared to take back the maintenance and operation.”

Well, Nassau County the time has come. The county funded Friends group is back trying to reengineer the preserve in violation of every known ordinance and condition concerning preserves. They, without the county's knowledge and permission, dug out a shallow well to feed a sprinkler system. No effort was made to determine if salt water could be drawn from this shoreline area which would ultimately kill any vegetation being watered. Now they have targeted the beautiful pond area of the preserve and intend to remove virtually all of the vegetation and natural habitat around it. Trees and shrubs have been marked for destruction.

When challenged by outraged environmentalists, the response was : "bull____!, this is all non-native stuff". They ignore the fact that when this property was privately owned, specific trees and shrubs were imported and planted to enhance the esthetics of the property. Once the land was turned over to Nassau County those plantings became "native" and are required to be maintained as is.

We are asking Nassau County to "throw the bums out" and immediately stop the desecration of the Sands Point Preserve.

1 Comments:

At 8:29 AM, Blogger Unknown said...

Native typically means plant material that is indigenous to an area and has co-evolved with the native wildlife.
I do not espouse the indiscriminate removal of specimen exotic species but I do advocate the use of native plant material whenever possible. For more information on the importance of native plants and their role in maintaining biodiversity google Doug Tallamy and his book 'Bringing Nature Home' or watch one of his lectures at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEhl2ZwzCr4 .

 

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