$3 Million Coming To Peconic Land Trust

Thanks to a New York State Regional Economic Development Grant to the tune of $3,656,370, the Peconic Land Trust will implement the next phase of its Regional Aquifer Protection Land Acquisition Program to acquire land or development rights to protect Long Island’s sole source aquifer.

This year the program will focus on acquiring land in the towns of Brookhaven, Riverhead, Southold, Shelter Island, and East Hampton to protect land in the Central Suffolk, Southold, and South Fork Special Groundwater Protection Areas within the Peconic Estuary and Long Island Sound Study Watershed.

Also in Riverhead, the Long Island Science Center, a learning museum, will expand its facility and increase its STEM programs and exhibits with a grant of $775,000.

The New York Marine Rescue Center, with funding of $75,000, plans to enhance its tourism program. Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research & Preservation will engage the public in the critical work of the New York Marine Rescue Center to save endangered sea life.

By providing enhanced tourism access to their unique hospital and rehabilitation center, offering specially tailored guided tours and educational programs, the grantee intends to inform the public about man-made risks to sea life and other various tourism initiatives to increase visitation to the area and overall region.

The recipient of a $300,000 grant, Community Action Southold Town, Inc. is planning a North Fork Community Resource Center buy, purchasing and upgrading a building in Greenport that will support CAST’s self-sufficiency programs.

Harbor Lights Oyster Co. will build a collaborative aquaculture center to house an oyster hatchery and a shellfish processing center that will offer accessible shore-based services to the local seafood industry, with the $180,000 grant.

The Village of Greenport is receiving $390,000 to design and construct an expansion of its municipal sewer system, reducing current nitrogen pollution input to the nearby Peconic Estuary.

Other grants can be found on the www.ny.gov website.

bridget@indyeastend.com