| Issue #3- April 13, 2007 |
ROSS SCHOOL SELLS WOODS TO PRESERVATIONISTS
By Emily J Weitz
A major public land acquisition will be the subject of a town hearing this Friday, April 13. The land in question is a sprawling property in the Wainscott woods, adjacent to The Ross School. Suffolk County and East Hampton Town have joined together to save this property and protect it for future generations. The town and county will evenly split the $7.8 million cost of the 71 acres that extend from Goodfriend Drive to East Hampton Airport. The East Hampton community preservation fund will shoulder the $3.4 million cost of the additional 19.4 acres. Even though $7.8 million sounds like a remarkably low price to pay for 71 acres nowadays, the deal was only made under the condition that the two adjacent properties would be purchased. These two properties, at 428 and 420 Wainscott Northwest Road, cost a great deal more per acre. All things considered, the 91-acre property was sold for close to its market value.
Scott Wilson, the Land Management Specialist for the town of East Hampton, believes that the deal is a good one, both monetarily and in terms of land preservation. And, it seems to be mutually beneficial. Instead of spending the next five years dodging cement trucks, students at The Ross School will look out their windows onto a seemingly endless expanse of woods.
The Ross School put this property up for sale at market value, after obtaining pre-approval for a subdivision. These 91 acres would have been chopped up into 16 residential lots and five separate preserved areas. This would have meant years of construction around The Ross School, as well as annihilated habitats in the expanse of woods.
The woods are still in their natural state. Preservation of this land will prove deeply significant, in both ecological and aesthetic terms. Nearly 91 acres of contiguous forest adds up to an expansive habitat for birds and other wildlife. But perhaps the most pressing reason to protect this expanse of forest is its function as a water recharge district.
Virtually all the drinking water on Long Island is part of one system of underground reservoirs, called aquifers. These aquifers have a high watershed capacity. This means that rainwater falls in this area and filters through the soil and the sandy loam, making the water we drink cleaner. By protecting the pine barren forest above these aquifers, we are protecting our water source.
We often hear outcries of protest when dunes or farmland is bought and subdivided, but the woodlands tend to disappear in silence. However, for many species of plants and animals, contiguous woodlands are vital. Protecting an acre here and an acre there is not going to preserve these species. This purchase will allow birds that need acres and acres for their habitat to continue living here. Some of the species of birds that thrive on large areas of contiguous woodlands include whippoorwills, hermit thrushes, bluebirds and woodpeckers. Larry Penny, the Director of the Natural Resources Department in East Hampton, added that wild turkeys have been showing up in this area as well. He emphasized that by leaving this pristine pine barrens forest wild, we will be protecting many beneficial animal species.
As a town and county purchase, the land will be in the hands of the public. While there are no plans as of yet, Scott Wilson predicted that there would be a few hiking trails blazed through the woods so that we can all appreciate the beauty and serenity of the area. The public hearing will take into account any objections to the acquisition, but it is predicted that the community will be supportive of protecting the woods instead of allowing them to be subdivided and sold as individual building parcels. The pine barrens are a fragile ecosystem that have been decimated by construction, and protecting them is a great victory for the area.
The public hearing before the East Hampton Town Board will take place at Town Hall in East Hampton at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, April 13.-
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