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Conservation News

  • Peter O'Connor

    Volunteer Spotlight – Peter O’Connor

    The Land Alliance is grateful to Peter O’Connor (aka Dr. FrankenTree) for his ingenuity and enthusiasm in his volunteer efforts with the Land Alliance. He is one of our most dedicated volunteers and lends a helping hand every week. He can regularly be seen in the Humes Japanese Stroll Garden cutting bamboo, digging up rhizomes and preparing the Garden for visitors.

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  • Roosevelt Community Garden 2022

    Season Five at Our Community Garden Wrapped Up

    The Roosevelt Community Garden has become an avenue for adults and children to work together to grow fresh wholesome food while learning about agriculture, biodiversity and appreciation of the outdoors.

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  • How Can We Save the Bees?

    Did you know there are more than 20,000 bee species in the world? Of those bees, 450 are native to New York State, and they come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. Unfortunately, many of our native bees are in decline. More than 50% of North American native bee species are in decline and nearly 1 in 4 are at increasing risk of extinction.

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  • NYS Clean Air, Clean Water and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act Passes!

    On November 8th, the NYS Clean Air, Clean Water and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act won with a resounding 67.57% majority! It’s nice to see that New Yorkers continue to value our environment. The NYS Environmental Bond Act will protect open space, safeguard clean drinking water, and update our aging water and sewer infrastructure while supporting nearly 100,000 good jobs.

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  • Conservation Easement, Field at Tiffany Creek Preserve in Oyster Bay Cove, New York.

    Protecting Land on the North Shore with Conservation Easements

    One of the most common ways land trusts, like the North Shore Land Alliance, protect land is through conservation easements. A conservation easement is a voluntary legal agreement that protects a property and its unique conservation attributes by permanently restricting development or other uses of the land that have detrimental impacts.

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  • Sign Our Letter: Help Preserve Plum Island!

    As a member of the Plum Island Coalition, we are writing to President Biden to formally request that he use his executive and administrative powers to designate Plum Island as a National Monument for the purpose of ecological conservation, historical preservation, and the discovery and celebration of our shared cultural heritage.

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  • Land Alliance New Headquarters at Humes

    After over 19 years of operating in borrowed or rented spaces, The North Shore Land
    Alliance, Inc. (Land Alliance) is excited to announce our relocation to the historic Tavern House at the Humes Preserve in Mill Neck, NY.

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  • A New Preserve in Lattingtown

    Mary and Tim Williams have donated their family’s beautiful 4.5-acre property located at 357 Lattingtown Road to the Land Alliance for use as a public preserve.

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  • Great Things are Happening at Wawapek!

    Wawapek is alive with the sights and sounds of summer! The trees are in full leaf, the pollinator gardens are a buzz and the blueberry patch is heavy with fruit. As we enter a new season at this much-loved preserve, we’d like to give you some quick updates about exciting things to come.

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  • New Government Updates

    New York’s game species are literally losing ground, as human development and climate change is restricting their native habitats. In a new report, the National Wildlife Federation found game species across the country lost, on average, 6.5M acres of habitat over the past two decades.

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  • Our Long Island Water Education Program Surpasses 10,000 Students Served

    After a pandemic year+ of postponement and a second year of remote learning (with supplies packed and delivered to schools) educator Karen Mossey finally returned to the classroom (with some interruptions!) during the 2021/2022 school year.

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  • Season Five Has Begun at the Roosevelt Community Garden

    We are pleased to kick-start the fifth growing season at the Roosevelt Community Garden. This year, we look forward to partnering with new organizations, hosting more gardening and community activities and educating more people.

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  • Olivia Larocchia – 2022 O’Neil Conservation Steward

    We are pleased to present the 2022 class of O’Neil Conservation Stewards. Olivia Larocchia is a senior graduating from Binghamton University with a BS in Environmental Science. She is very passionate about taking care of the planet so that all living beings, whether people, plants or animals, can thrive today and far into the future. […]

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  • Meg Rumplick – 2022 O’Neil Conservation Steward

    Meg Rumplick – 2022 O’Neil Conservation Steward Meg Rumplick, an Islip native, is a junior at Vassar College majoring in Environmental Studies focusing on Plant Biology and Geography. Meg has a keen interest in preserving the environment. After working at Vassar’s ecological preserve and herbarium last semester, Meg knew working for the Land Alliance would […]

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  • Lily Fallar – 2022 O’Neil Conservation Steward

    After considering many qualified candidates, we are pleased to welcome Lily Fallar to the 2022 class of O’Neil Conservation Stewards. Lily Fallar is a rising junior at Binghamton University. Lily is majoring in environmental science (with a concentration in earth science and natural resources) and is minoring in health and wellness. She is a Long […]

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  • Climate Change

    Weekly Climate Change Tips: Think Native This Week!

    Think Native! As you start to think about your summer garden, it very important to incorporate native plants into your plan. Native plants provide more food for birds and beneficial insects such as butterflies and bees where non-native or invasive plants do not. More specifically, because native trees and shrubs have evolved with the local […]

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  • North Shore Land Alliance 2021 Fall Newsletter

    The Importance of Private Conservation: Celebrating Local Conservation Heroes

    Today, we would like to celebrate our North Shore conservation champions – the local leaders who have been first to step up to donate their land or permanently protect it with a conservation easement. Their gifts will continue to improve the health of our community for generations to come!

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  • Happenings at Humes – From Gardens to the Garage

    We were kept busy with mowing the phase two area of the meadow this year but unfortunately that was more due to controlling weed growth than keeping winter rye from going to seed, (as had been the case with phase one).  Last fall’s seeding of the phase two area was less productive than phase one’s. […]

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  • North Shore Land Alliance_2021 Fall Conservation news

    Invasive Plant Species Proliferation on Long Island

    As noted in a recent NY Times article, over the past 120 years, voracious insects and other pathogens have swept across North America with frightening regularity.

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  • The Value of Coastal Areas: What is Shore Road Doing for You?

    Shore Road Sanctuary is an eight-acre nature preserve. It features a salt marsh, grassland and wet meadow that is very often partially submerged by water. As you walk there, you may notice birds hidden amongst the grasses and fiddler crabs scuttling along the beach.

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  • Water Quality Improvement Program

    Water Quality Improvement Program Update

    As of May 2021, Nassau County homeowners and small business owners became eligible for grant funding from the Soil and Water Conservation District’s SEPTIC program. In November, a Sea Cliff resident successfully installed Nassau County’s first ever nitrogen-removing clean water septic system.

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  • Protecting a Treasured Landscape: Seminary of the Immaculate Conception

    The Seminary of the Immaculate Conception is a beautiful and environmentally significant 200+- acre property in Lloyd Harbor. The Land Alliance, working with the Seminary’s Board, the Trust for Public Land, the Village of Lloyd Harbor, the Town of Huntington and New York State, has begun laying the groundwork for a conservation transaction that would protect the beautiful forests, fields and wetlands contained within the property.

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  • What is 30×30? (Recently Renamed America the Beautiful)

    In a 2018 article in Science Magazine, “Space for nature,” Jonathan Baillie (chief scientist at the National Geographic Society) and Ya-Ping Zhang (biologist with the Chinese Academy of Scientists) encouraged “governments to set minimum targets of 30% of the oceans and land protected by 2030, with a focus on areas of high biodiversity and/or productivity, and to aim to secure 50% by 2050.”

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  • The Land Alliance 30×30 Conservation Plan

    Every five years (or as new data becomes available), the Land Alliance updates its Community Open Space Plan. We have generally included the 12 to 14 villages in our designated area where the most viable land conservation opportunities remain. The timing of this update turned out to be serendipitous this year in light of the recent “30×30” challenge that is gaining strength across the country and the world.

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  • Conservation Tools

    The Land Alliance’s biannual newsletter serves as our progress report to the community. We aim to highlight the important conservation work taking place and educate our members and friends on the issues that affect the natural beauty and environmental health of our community. As we take on the 30×30 challenge, we find this a good opportunity to share the primary tools utilized in land conservation.

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