We continue our work toward preserving Plum Island in perpetuity.

Our advocacy brings us ever closer to this goal.

Mission Statement

The mission of the Preserve Plum Island Coalition (PPIC) is to secure the permanent protection of the significant natural, historical, and cultural resources of Plum Island. The PPIC advocates for comprehensive conservation and management solutions that safeguard this national treasure in the public trust as a national monument, wildlife refuge, preserve, or other equivalent protection, with carefully managed and equitable public access, in perpetuity.*

*Through the course of this incredible multi-year campaign, the mission of the PPIC has been refined to clarify and prioritize the most promising opportunities for the permanent preservation of this magnificent natural and cultural asset.

Update

The Preserve Plum Island Coalition continues its campaign for Plum Island to become a national monument for the purposes of ecological conservation, historical preservation, and the discovery and celebration of our shared cultural heritage. We see a pressing need for immediate conservation of the island’s sensitive environmental, historical, and cultural resources.

2025

In 2025, we look forward to advocating for matching Plum Island bills in the Senate and the House of Representatives that can bring Plum Island even closer to the critical goal of preservation.

December 2024 - Busy with Congressional Bills

The 118th Congress ended on December 20th without a Plum Island bill for the President’s signature. Progress was made toward House and Senate bills calling for a study of the island’s resources and the feasibility of the island’s preservation, yet (a) the bills’ texts were not completely aligned and (b) only one bill fully passed the chamber in which it was introduced: Senate bill 5136, the Plum Island Preservation Study Act (https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/5136). This exciting moment occurred on December 18, 2024, and was a critical step toward ultimate long-term protection of Plum Island.

S. 5099, the Plum Island Preservation Act bill, introduced on September 18, 2024, was placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders, following an amendment in the nature of a substitute. The Senate did not vote on it, however. https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/5099

House bill H.R. 1584, the Plum Island National Monument Act (see more under “Earlier in 2024,” below), was reported by the House Natural Resources Committee in the nature of a substitute and placed on the Union Calendar by the House of Representatives on December 12, 2024. In its final form, it required the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special resource study of Plum Island. The House, unfortunately, did not act on the bill in the little time left before the 118th Congress ended.

We are grateful to our champions in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, all of whom have continued to work hard toward achieving preservation of Plum Island.

November 2024

The Plum Island Animal Disease Center welcomed the PPIC’s steering committee to Plum Island on November 1, 2024, for a full day of highly informational meetings and tours. The steering committee received helpful information about potential future uses of the island’s infrastructure.

Earlier in 2024

H.R. 1584, the Plum Island National Monument Act bill, was heard by the House Natural Resources Committee’s Federal Lands Subcommittee on March 7, 2024. Louise Harrison testified in favor of the bill on behalf of the Preserve Plum Island Coalition and Save the Sound. Follow the bill at: https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/1584
- The March 7th hearing may be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCFo8bWbIXI. Mentions of Plum Island are at 00:51:17; 00:56:40; 1:13:15; 1:54:12; 1:55:31; and 2:02:16.

why it matters

About a mile from Orient Point, at the tip of Long Island’s North Fork, lies the 822-acre pork-chop-shaped Plum Island. This pristine island—home to hundreds of species, some rare and endangered—is nationally significant in its ecological and historical resources, as well as in representing the deep cultural heritage of people who have lived in the region for thousands of years. Home to a famous laboratory that is closing in the next few years, Plum Island can benefit from careful stewardship if it becomes a national monument or is preserved in perpetuity under a comparable measure. Over 111 species of conservation concern have been documented on the island by scientists. Nearly a quarter of all bird species known in North America, north of Mexico, have been sighted there!

For nearly 375 years, people seeking to visit Plum Island have required special permission. The island’s status as a mysterious place where people cannot go should be transformed to one where people can celebrate and protect its ecological riches, learn its fascinating history, and honor cultural heritage, sacred sites, and traditions. Permanent protection for Plum Island would offer opportunities for confronting and reversing long-standing inequities.

WE Stopped the Proposed Sale of the Island

Despite the significant natural, historical, and cultural values of Plum Island, in 2008 Congress passed, and the President signed, PL 110-329, part of the Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance and Continuing Appropriations Act, effectively endangering the island to the risks of development through an auction to the highest bidder. Further congressional language in 2012 directed revenue from such a sale. Coalition members fought the Plum Island -related provisions of both laws through legal means as well as through building our membership, lobbying, and making our voices heard from coast to coast. We developed a clear vision for Plum Island’s future, hearing from almost 200 stakeholders. In December 2020, Congress responded to our advocacy: Our champions reversed the language and took Plum Island off the auction block!

This was a major victory for the Preserve Plum Island Coalition, taking more than a decade of coordination and consistent effort.

PLUM ISLAND FITS THE AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL CAMPAIGN

The Preserve Plum Island Coalition wants the island transferred into preservation status. The federal government needs to take action. The administration’s initiative to advance an “inclusive and collaborative conservation vision,” to conserve, connect, and restore 30 percent of our lands and waters by 2030 should include Plum Island. It’s a perfect fit.

public access CAN support economic and stewardship goals

Monuments, refuges, and other protected lands are popular places. Public access, allowed in many such places as long as the activities are compatible with management goals, helps support local economies. A Plum Island national monument could do likewise, inviting the public to learn at a visitor center, take guided hikes, visit the National Register -listed Plum Island Light Station and Fort Terry, and enjoy world-class wildlife viewing opportunities. Sustainable and equitable visitation would bring money to the local economy, which would support jobs, stewardship opportunities, and ultimately, biological diversity. The general public has not had unfettered access to Plum Island since the Montaukett Indian Nation was dispossessed of it in the 1600s.

EARLIER Campaign Milestones

Campaign for a Plum Island National Monument:

In 2023, The PPIC prepared professional reports substantiating the case for preserving Plum Island, providing evidence of widespread support and years of community engagement. These were advanced to federal decision makers in the Administration.
H.R. 1584, the Plum Island National Monument Act, was introduced in the House of Representatives in March 2023. It included the same monument purpose statement the Preserve Plum Island Coalition has promoted — “for the purpose of ecological conservation, historical preservation, and the discovery and celebration of our shared cultural heritage.”
Senate staffers from New York and Connecticut visited Plum Island two days in a row in early 2023, along with numerous officials from the Department of Interior, Department of Homeland Security, the General Services Administration, and other agencies for fact finding and discussions about preserving the island’s values.
New York State officials also visited the island in 2023 as the state considers its potential role in Plum Island management planning.
Explanatory language in the 2023 federal budget supported Plum Island preservation and encouraged federal agencies to share information needed to bring this goal into focus.
Court Battle: A coalition of organizations* Save the Sound, Group for the East End, Peconic Baykeeper, and three individuals, filed a lawsuit in 2016 against the federal government to block the sale of Plum Island. They attained a good deal of success in 2018. The parties argued that the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the sale was inadequate, that conservation alternatives were ignored, and that the agencies therefore violated the National Environmental Protection Act, Endangered Species Act, Coastal Zone Management Act, and other federal laws in putting the island up for sale. Judge Denis Hurley denied the government’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit in January 2018, allowing the lawsuit to go forward. This alone was a victory. the lawsuit is in an administrative stay.
* The Preserve Plum Island Coalition, itself, is not a party to and not involved in the lawsuit.
Town Zoning: The Town of Southold passed Local Law No. 6 of 2013, A Local Law in relation to Plum Island Zoning in 2013. It zoned Plum Island, a single parcel, into two districts—Plum Island Conservation District (PIC) and Plum Island Research District (PIR). In 2019, the Town of Southold amended the zoning code with Local Law No. 17 to create a new MIII District, which then led to the rezoning of the Orient Point ferry parcel, itself, to that category. The zoning would be in effect should Plum Island become privately owned.
Local Government Support: In April 2017, Long Island’s East End Mayors and Supervisors banded together to issue Plum Island conservation request letters to New York legislators and Governor Andrew Cuomo. These followed a January 2017 letter from the village of Greenport urging New York Senator Charles Schumer to ensure the island stays in federal ownership. This same group in 2022 endorsed preserving Plum Island as a national monument.
Local Authority: In May 2017, all 18 members of the Suffolk County Legislature signed a letter sent to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo urging him to utilize the state’s authority to stop the federal government from selling Plum Island. In 2022, the Legislature wrote directly to the President in favor of a national monument.
New York State Legislation: In December 2019, New York’s legislature passed, and Governor Cuomo signed, S.5871/A.6520 to recognize the importance of the marine mammals and sea turtles around Plum Island, Great Gull Island and Little Gull Island.
Federal Legislation: Over the years, lawmakers introduced bipartisan legislation to stop the sale of Plum Island, with limited success. In April 2017, Congressman Lee Zeldin re-introduced his 2016 bill to halt the sale of Plum Island, which passed the House, but died in the Senate. In December 2019, President Trump signed the nation’s budget bill, which included a one-year reprieve from the public sale of Plum Island.
Envision Plum Island: In 2018 and 2019, Save the Sound, The Nature Conservancy, and the members of the Preserve Plum Island Coalition met with stakeholders from around the region to develop a vision for Plum Island’s future. The report was released to Congress, New York, and the public in July 2020.
Repeal! In December 2020, amidst the pandemic, our region’s U.S. representatives and senators submitted requests to their respective subcommittees on Homeland Security for the 2021 appropriations bill. Congress responded in this way to the Coalition’s vision for Plum Island, repealing the 2009 law that previously had moved the Department of Homeland Security and the General Services Administration toward auctioning the island out of public ownership!
Coalition Support: The Preserve Plum Island Coalition has grown to include more than 120 organizations fighting to see the island preserved in perpetuity.

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