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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDowns Creek f .....1' ..\ eNFEC NORTH FORK ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL, Inc. a non-profit organization for preservation of land, sea, air and quality of life ST. 1972 CORPORATE MAILING ADDRESS P.O. Box311, Southold, N.Y. 11971 President: lilaIkeJllllaxR onn i e Wac ke r Secretary:lltllnCJSI!"~U~~ M.E. Tomaszewski MEMBER SERVICE & INFORMATION Route 25 at Love Lane - P.O. Box 799 Mattituck,N.Y.11952 (516)298-8880 Southold Town Board Main Hoad Southold, New York 11911 RECEIVED NOV 1 5 1988 November 14, 1988 SauIIdd To- f1.l. Dear Ladies and Gentlemen: As we all know, undisturbeg land and unpolluted waters become scarcer every day on the North Fork. The penalties we pay. to permit over- buildin~ include the ~rown tide, the scallop's disappearance, de~ pleted rishin~, hi~her local taxes to pay ror services needed _y the developers' houses, and the visible loss of rarmland and op~ space. How much lon~er, at this rate, will boaters and tourists come here to see the same thin~ they've escaped at Qome? Aware or this plight, the people of Southold Town have voted $1.15 million to acquire open space. In addition, the Town will be ~etting receipts from the continuation of the extra t~ sales tax. And we hope before lon~ it will be receiving funds from a 2~ sales tax to ee imposed on high-priced land transactions. So, through its Town Board, Southold now has to make some wise decisions about what re- maining Lind and water to preserve and protect. Among the natural resources we have left, the North Fork Environmental Council particularly recommends that the Town use its funds to ac- quire these four places: DAM POND This 45-acre tidal body separat~s East Marion from Orient. The Town owns Dam Pond. But it does not own the parcel to the west of its northern half, containin~ some of the most spectacular acreage on the North Fork. Still undeveloped, but planned for development, this 96-acre place is remarkable for its diversity. Here are tidal wetlands and a tidal creek (partly filled). Here are lowlands, up- lands, old fields, and an abandoned sand and ~ravel quarry now hol- ding five small ponds surrounded by vegetation. Here are oak forests, a tree farm, and greenbriar thickets, as well as an old dirt road reaching most of these areas. All this is in addition to the dunes and the beach on the north. ~he place is a living ecology lesson. ~ome to a wide ~roup of plant communities and animal life, including red foxes, hawks, falcons, owls, waterfowl, and shore birds, its very variety is stunning. ... . -2- . "It's a good place to teach our kids about our land," says one Town official who has used it for summer nature classes. Offenses committed a~ainst this land GY development would be even worse than usual. The proposed road would fill existing marshland and further silt up and erode the already partly-filled tidal creek, spillin~ into Dam Pond. High groundwater on lower portions of the site '3ould back sewage into the wetlands and Dam Pond. Development would destroy the site's scenic Deauty, deprive the wildlife of its haBitat, and further filthy the tidal waters that are the enly ~ome of two-thirds of our juvenile fish as well as our Shellfish. The Town needs this land. RICHMOND CREEK Three undeveloped portions of this forked creek are left, and two-- 27-acre Richmond Shores and the 5-acre Duchow ,roperty__ have al- ready been approved for development. The other, 50-acre Richmond Creek Farms, is awaiting a~roval following a complete DEIS. It is these portions that we should acquire and preserve. The mouth of Richmond Creek has .een dredged repeatedly, creating a large sand peninsula, but the backwaters of both forks of the creek have been little disturbed.* It remains one of the few good shell- fishing areas we have left. And it's unpolluted. At a recent public hearing by the Southold Town Trustees, not only the North Fork Environmental Council, but the local League of Women Voters, the North Fork Audubon Society, the New Suffolk Civic Asso- ciation, and the local Water, Land, and Wildlife Protection Group protested its development. The Trustees have designated the place a critical environmental area (CEA). . Richmond Creek's shores are home to the newly-threatened diamond- Dack terrapin, the endangered least tern, and the locally endangered piping plover. They're breedin~ grounds and resting places for mi- gratory birds and waterfowl, and feeding ~rounds for the osprey. Its waters hold nursery finfish and plentiful ShellfiSh. The State has desi~nated this area a significant wildlife and fish habitat. It is one of the last beautiful,-natural tidal wetlands left. The Town must protect it. [. DOWNS CREEK This large, unsullied salt marsh and tidal creek is one of the two or three last creeks in Southold Town not to have been dred~ed. The threatened dianomdback terrapin lives there and, except -for a small bridge, an active osprey nest is the sole structure on its shores, and the mussel harvest is still plentifUl. It is a place of stunning beauty and is considered irreplacea1!l1e. On the west bank, furthermore, is an historic site which had been .;, County DPW Waterways Division says neither fork dredged lito their knowledge. . . -, , . . -3- an early Indian lo~ fortification called Fort Corchau~ after the tribe that occupied it until the 1600's and probably centuries earlier. The fort, believed to be the only one of its type to remain, is lar~ely uninvestigated, but is recorded in the Diviffion for Bis- toric Places of the U.S. Interior Department. ANGEL SqO~ES, Section I The western half of this subdivision proposed south of the far end of Main Bayview Road is the most significant part enVironmentally of the development. It also has some archeological value. County biolo~y teams, after stUdy, recommend that the western part be either set aside with finality by the developer or acquired by the Town so that it can be preserved in perpetuity. . Development would lar~ely evict the wildlife. It would displace resident deer, cut off thei~ freshwater supply, and block their corridor to a more northerly ran~e. It would dispossess territorJal birds (probably to die, because all available surrounding land is claimed by rivals), destroy the fruit-bearing bushes that feed much of the wild population, and render homeless the owls and other inha- 1_ bitants of the dense conifer stands. The land and its freshwater pond Would be largely claimed by human occupation. In particular, though, the large saltwater pond, a tidal wetland and a seashore nur- sery, '~ould easily be turned into an artif'~cial playtning. * .:~ {} We all a~ree that our livelihood here and certainly our own well- being depend lar~ely on vistas, clean waters, a healthy boating and fishing industry, and the seaside tourism these brin~. We've got to start somewhere to stop fouling our nest, our neighborhood, our Shores, and our planet. These four endangered spaces are a good place to start. Sincerely, 120l\)\\1l (x.1C'Wr.''L Ronnie '-'facker President L.