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Acquisition of a Historic Property Adjoining Red Cote Preserve
In June, the Land Alliance purchased a one-year option agreement from the Pulling family. The agreement allows the Land Alliance time to raise the $1.52M necessary to purchase 4.5 acres of land adjacent to the Red Cote Preserve in Oyster Bay Cove. This land features a beautiful scenic vista. It includes an additional trail, a picturesque colonial garden and majestic centuries-old trees. Located in the New York State designated Special Groundwater Protection Area and within the Route 25A Heritage Area, the land will be a wonderful addition to the Red Cote Preserve. The 30-acre Red Cote Preserve is comprised of land purchased from the Pulling, Cutting and Schwab families. It was created in the early 2000’s through proceeds from the Nassau County Environmental Bond Program. This much-loved community preserve features a peaceful woodland trail, sentinel red cedar trees in the meadow and native wildflowers butterfly weed blooming in summer and goldenrod in fall are particularly popular with preserve visitors and pollinators alike). Red Cote is managed by the Land Alliance. The land under the option agreement has been owned by Pulling family members for more than 100 years. In the early 1920s, R.C. Leffingwell rented a house and horse stables on the North Shore so that he, his wife and daughter Lucy could spend weekends out of the city and enjoy horseback riding. When the rental terminated in 1924, he purchased a farmhouse, stables and surrounding pastures and gardens at 33 Yellow Cote Road and named the property Red Cote. When adjacent properties came up for sale, he often purchased them as well. For example, he bought the cottage just north of the Red Cote field on Yellow Cote Road. It was occupied for many years by members of the Leffingwell/Pulling family and is now owned by neighbors. In 1927 he bought a house at 34 Yellow Cote Road from Willis Wood so the soon-to-be-married (to Edward Pulling) Lucy and her husband would have their own home on the property. Years later, when Edward Pulling retired from Millbrook School, he and Lucy moved back to the property. They lived the rest of their lives in the main house at Red Cote. 16 acres of the southwest portion of the property were sold in 2006 to Nassau County and are now part of the Red Cote Preserve. Protecting historic places like Red Cote Preserve helps us maintain a sense of continuity and connection to the past. It also fosters a sense of community and pride in the place where we live. The Land Alliance is grateful to the Pulling family for its commitment to preserving the stories and the places that define the character of our north shore community.
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Saunders Woods – A Generous Gift to Our Community
The Land Alliance was thrilled to add Saunders Woods to our ever-growing list of preserves in 2023. This generous land donation was made by the Saunders family, long time Matinecock residents and proponents of land conservation. When the Saunders first approached the Land Alliance about donating the property we knew this would be a big conservation win for the community. Located in the Village of Matinecock, Saunders Woods is comprised of 12 acres of vacant, forested land quietly set back from Piping Rock Road. The property holds many important conservation values. High on the list is the property’s location within the Kaintuck Brook watershed, one of Long Island’s most biodiverse and ecologically valuable areas. Kaintuck Brook drains into Mill Neck Creek and subsequently the Long Island Sound. Protecting the property also preserves habitat for many native flora and fauna including red oak, tulip tree, American holly, spice bush, Canada mayflower, Jack-in-the-pulpit, Solomon’s seal, woodpeckers and red fox. The new preserve provides connectivity to 15 acres of preserved woodland and meadows owned by the North Shore Wildlife Sanctuary, which connects to the back fields at Friends Academy. Over the winter, the Land Alliance surveyed the property to establish clear boundary lines so encroachment issues could be identified and resolved. This summer Land Alliance staff will design and build a trail system. In the not-too-distant future, we hope to open those new trails to the public. We are grateful to the Saunders family for trusting that their conservation legacy would be upheld under Land Alliance ownership. In many ways the donation is a quiet tribute to Thomas A. Saunders III, who passed away in 2022. Mr. Saunders was raised in Virginia and had great admiration for Thomas Jefferson and his affinity for nature. In fact, one of Mr. Saunders’ favorite Jefferson quotes was “No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth, and no culture comparable to that of the garden.”
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New York State Open Space Plan Update
Working alongside the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPRHP), the Land Alliance spearheaded the Nassau County arm of the Region 1 New York State Open Space Committee. We convened a series of meetings where partner organizations and local government officials worked together to develop countywide recommendations for the Plan’s update. Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS), the Land Alliance reviewed the projects included in the 2016 Open Space Plan to identify areas that might have been overlooked in the last plan or have become eligible due to a changing environment. Three new priority projects areas were proposed. Those new project areas included recreational lands such as golf courses (which could become future forests, farms or grassland), green infrastructure (such as wetlands and forests) and coastal areas (to mitigate and abate the harmful impacts of climate change). Early indications suggest that these recommendations have been accepted by the DEC. Results of statewide efforts have been forwarded to DEC and OPRHP in Albany for review with the goal of releasing an updated Plan in 2025. Due to the dense development that already occurs on Long Island, the Nassau County Committee also proposed that the definition of open space be expanded to encompass “un-development” or “reclamation” as a strategy for creating new open spaces. The Open Space Conservation Plan (OSCP) is a comprehensive statewide plan that describes current open space conservation goals, actions, tools, resources and programs administered by state and federal agencies and conservation nonprofits. Since 1992, the OSCP has served as the blueprint for the State’s Open Space Program, guiding the investment of land protection funds from the Environmental Protection Fund. As required by law, the Plan is updated periodically, relying heavily on the work of the nine Regional Advisory Committees. Partner Organizations Many thanks to our partner organizations whose contributions added greatly to the quality of the final product. Those organizations were: City of Long Beach , Coalition to Save Hempstead Harbor, Friends of the Bay, Glen Cove CDA, Hempstead Harbor Protection Committee, Nassau County Department of Public Works, Nassau County Soil and Water Conservation District, OPRHP, Save the Sound, Town of Oyster Bay
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Williams Ridge Preserve Update
We are off to a good start this spring at Lattingtown’s 4.5-acre Williams Ridge Preserve. We made irrigation upgrades and installed native shrubs, sedges, warm-season native grasses and wildflowers along the pond edge and across the adjoining upland. Also, a meadow was revamped and seeded just after Thanksgiving. We are overhauling the formal garden area next to the meadow as a demonstration planting area of native wildflowers and grasses that will help visitors learn about deer-resistant plants and converting some lawn areas to wildlife-friendly spaces. We were delighted to witness the expansion of spring ephemeral trout lily alongside the creek this spring and multiple snapping turtles, largemouth bass and a muskrat in the pond. A house wren was observed nesting in a log that had fallen into the water, showing what value dead trees can provide wildlife. Our volunteers continue their vine removal, weeding of planting areas, maintenance of the stone staircase and conducting wildlife survey. We continue to be challenged by an emerging invasive aquatic species called parrot feather (Myriophyllum aquaticum) at the pond; native to South America, it can form dense mats, reducing biodiversity. It is something to be on the lookout for in calm waterbodies. Those of you who have not yet visited Williams Ridge are in for a treat when you do go! The location of the preserve entrance may require some explanation, so please contact us here at the office at 516-922-1028 so we can direct you. This habitat restoration is supported by funding from the New York State Conservation Partnership Program (NYSCPP) and New York’s Environmental Protection Fund. The NYSCPP is administered by the Land Trust Alliance, in coordination with the state Department of Environmental Conservation. We remain grateful to Mary and Tim Williams for their generous donation of this charming respite from our hectic life pace and, more and more, a haven for wildlife.
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A Very Big Deal
The 216-acre Seminary of the Immaculate Conception has been a part of Lloyd Harbor history for centuries. We are very pleased to announce that this incredible natural area filled with mature forest, wetlands and meadows will become a permanent part of our community’s future. Today, thanks to the hard work, determination and generosity of many, a conservation future will be ensured for this local treasure. A partnership among the Seminary, the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation and the Village of Lloyd Harbor will permanently protect 200 acres of this extraordinary place for conservation. The transaction closing is expected in early 2024. New York State Parks will purchase 180 acres to be used as a passive preserve, perfect for walkers and birders and all who enjoy the extraordinary benefits of nature. The Village of Lloyd Harbor will purchase 20 acres which contains the Olmsted amphitheater and barn. The Seminary will retain 16 acres for its use as a retreat and conference center. Like most transactions of this size, a deal has been in the making for years. In late 2018, the Land Alliance was pleased to be invited by the Seminary Board to explore a transaction for conservation purposes. At that time, the objective was to protect the property and raise funds to make improvements to the Seminary building. The Land Alliance began by assisting Seminary leaders with mapping the land area, initiating an appraisal to better understand the value of the property and identifying potential conservation funders. Impressively the Town, County, State and Village and several Land Alliance supporters stepped up to be a part of this once-in-a-lifetime deal! Then the pandemic hit, the world slowed down and the potential for a transaction became complicated. This historic investment by New York State is the largest open space acquisition ever made on Long Island. The Seminary is listed as a priority project in the New York State Open Space Plan and the Suffolk County Open Space Plan. It also was ranked #1 in priority by the Town of Huntington’s Environment, Open Space and Park Fund Advisory Committee. Its substantial forest and 40+ acres of open fields are like none other left in our North Shore community. In its former life, the estate was developed by Roland Ray Conklin, a descendant of John Conklin (who settled Huntington c. 1640). In 1913, Conklin and his wife, Mary MacFadden, built their grand William Eyre-designed home at what was then called Rosemary Farm. Mrs. Conklin had been involved in the theater in NYC and wanted to create the perfect place for entertaining their friends, who were leading actors, conductors and singers of the day. The result featured an enchanting Olmsted designed open-air theater. Mary died in 1924 and Bishop Thomas E. Molloy, with the support of parishioners, purchased the then 200–acre Rosemary Farm. To accommodate the growing number of men seeking priesthood, the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception was built and formally opened on September 28, 1930. For several decades the Seminary offered master’s degrees and admitted lay students not preparing for ordination. In September 2012, the Diocese of Rockville Centre, the Archdiocese of New York and the Diocese of Brooklyn joined forces to consolidate their educational efforts into a single program at St. Joseph’s Seminary in Yonkers. Since the relocation of the priestly formation program to Yonkers, the Seminary has taken on the role of a retreat house providing opportunities for spiritual enrichment for thousands of New Yorkers, a service they intend to continue for years to come. We couldn’t be more excited about this deal and are so grateful to all who, along the way, played a part in such an optimal outcome. Special thanks to the Seminary for choosing conservation and to New York State, Suffolk County, the Town of Huntington and the Village of Lloyd Harbor for being willing to do everything they could to protect this iconic property. In the end, thanks to the success of Governor Hochul’s 2022 NYS Environmental Bond Act, the State had the funds to acquire the bulk of the property, leaving monies for the County and Town to invest in other open space projects. We couldn’t have asked for a better conservation solution. And, once again, we are proud to be a part of such a generous community who prioritizes nature and the future health of our world.
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