As a landscape architect practicing on the east end of Long Island, I cannot express enough my appreciation of the job that Peconic Baykeeper is doing in:
1. Keeping the sensitive estuaries and bays of our area clean, and monitoring their well-being.
2. Keeping our
Mission: Peconic Baykeeper is a 501 (C)(3) Not-For-Profit organization dedicated to protecting and restoring Long Island's drinkable, swimmable, and fishable waters. Established in 1998 as Long Island's clean water advocate, Peconic Baykeeper uses science, education and law to defend critical watersheds from the Peconic Estuary through the South Shore Bays. Peconic Baykeeper is a proud member of the international Waterkeeper movement, working actively with civic groups, baymen, businesses, children, and the community at large to protect and restore water quality and the island’s watersheds.
Results: *Established a vessel sewage No-Discharge Zone for the Peconic and South Shore Estuary Reserve.
*Compelled Suffolk County to stop dredging hundreds of miles of ditches in tidal wetlands.
*Halted a marina project in Shinnecock Bay that would have destroyed habitat and degraded water quality.
*Moved New York State to designate the Forge River as "Impaired Waters";, an unfortunate distinction that is the catalyst for corrective action.
Target demographics: Identify threats to our precious waterways and drinking water in order to advocate for solutions to the issues at hand
Geographic areas served: The Peconic and South Shore Estuary Watersheds of Long Island
Programs: Peconic Baykeeper serves as a public advocate and community educator through its clean water programs and initiatives.
Community Stories
3 Stories from Volunteers, Donors & Supporters
jack,Professional with expertise in this field 03/15/2011
Rating: 5
03/15/2011
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As a landscape architect practicing on the east end of Long Island, I cannot express enough my appreciation of the job that Peconic Baykeeper is doing in:
1. Keeping the sensitive estuaries and bays of our area clean, and monitoring their well-being.
2. Keeping our population well-informed of the status of the health of these eco-systems. (Their work is well-publicized and their educational outreach is targeted to the entire population.
3. With limited staff and dedicated volunteers, the dollar-for-effect ratio is outstanding.
Kevin McAllister has been essential to theSoMAS program at Stony Brook University as well as largely to the Southampton campus MarineScience program. The colloboration between the Peconic Bay Keeper and the Marine Science program has been immensely successful and vital to the community. In order to produce change in the way of thinking in a coastal area, we all need to pull together our individual resources to bring about improvement in the environment. The Peconic Baykeeper is performing such a service.
Peconic Baykeeper was instrumental in helping boating organizations in the Great South Bay achieve the launch of additional pump-out boats in the Town of Islip (1 boat) and the Town of Brookhaven (2 boats).
The one pump-out boat in the Town of Islip withdrew thousands of gallons of waste in just their first season from the recreational boaters in their area of the Great South Bay. That was a huge environmental improvement and success.
The increased number of pump-out boats in the Great South Bay then enabled the Peconic Baykeeper to apply for, and win, the formal designation of a "No Discharge Zone" for the Great South Bay.
In my experience, the Peconic Baykeeper is "the real thing". They worked selflessly and achieved the outcomes described here. They are a true asset for the Great South Bay, Peconic Bay and nearby waters.
