As most people living on Long Island will probably agree, our coastline is one of our most precious resources. Living on Long Island means that you are never very far away from the water, whether it's a bay, ocean, estuary, or the Long island Sound. Stewardship of our coastline will preserve Long Island’s diverse ecology and beautiful environs for future generations. Education is a key part of that effort.

 

Recently, Brookhaven Town received a 2020 Long Island Sound Futures Fund matching grant to fund the Town’s Coastal Environment and Community Resilience Education Program.

 

The Fund is managed by The Long Island Sound Study, a partnership whose mission is to restore and protect the Long island Sound. The organization seeks to fund activities that demonstrate a real, on-the-ground commitment to securing a healthy future for the Long Island Sound. Grants combines funds from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

 

The Town will match the $8,799 grant from the Fund with $4,450, making the total conservation impact $13,249.

 

“The Long Island Sound is vital to the ecology and economy of Brookhaven Town and it is our goal to preserve it for future generations,” said Brookhaven Town Supervisor Ed Romaine in a statement. “Thanks to the Long Island Sound Futures Fund grant, we will continue to increase public awareness and encourage participation in our environmental protection efforts in the Town.”

 

According to a press release, the Town of Brookhaven’s year-long Coastal Environment and Community Resilience Education Program will run from January 1 through December 31, 2021. The goal is to foster conservation by bringing people to the Long Island Sound or by bringing the Long Island Sound to the people.

 

An environmental educator will conduct presentations paired with hands-on activities tailored for each audience at public libraries throughout the Town of Brookhaven. Presentations and tours will include detailed descriptions of the intricate balance of the coastal ecosystems, the flora and fauna on the shore, dunes and salt marsh, and the positive and negative impacts of human activity in these places.

 

The program will also include informative, guided tours of Cedar Beach in Mt. Sinai, including the Town’s Marine Environmental Stewardship Center and shellfish and eelgrass restoration projects. There will also be nature tours for people of all ages and hands-on conservation programs with the Junior Environmental Stewards at Mt. Sinai Harbor and West Meadow Beach in Stony Brook.

 

The goal of the program is to create more sustainable and resilient communities by increasing knowledge and engagement of the public in the protection and restoration of the coastal environments of Long Island Sound.