Plum Island’s Secret
Plum Island’s best-kept secret is that we, the people of the United States, own it—and the federal government can keep it that way by turning Plum Island into a national monument or another kind of preserve!
About a mile from Orient Point, at the tip of Long Island’s North Fork, lies the 822-acre Plum Island. Soon, the federal government will transfer this island to another agency. The Preserve Plum Island Coalition is advancing the concept of a public-private partnership on public land, through creation of a national monument or another kind of preserve that tells the story of a small coastal island’s big impact on natural ecosystems, Indigenous people, colonizers, and immigrants, all in the shadow of one of the world’s greatest cities.
Beach Plum
FLORA
Despite the more than half a century of active use by staff at the Center, Plum Island still contains significant natural resources and possesses remarkable scenic, environmental value and recreational potential. The island has a mixture of rocky shoreline, sand beaches, wetlands, and various upland shrub, grassland, and forest habitats.
Cedar Waxwing
FAUNA
Audubon birders and others, through detailed census work, have sighted at least 228 bird species at Plum Island and adjacent coastal waters. That’s nearly a quarter of all bird species in North America north of Mexico! These include a variety of birds-of-prey, shorebirds, wading birds, waterfowl, and songbird species.
Fort Terry —Credit: Southold Historical Society
Cultural heritage
Plum Island’s location has shaped its relationship with people for millennia. From the migration of Indigenous people following the retreat of the Wisconsinan glacier, Native Americans’ dispossession of Plum Island by the British around 1659, American Revolutionary War activity, and commissioning of Fort Terry just before the Spanish-American War to the modern animal disease laboratory work, Plum Island has a long story to tell about America.
For a feature article about our efforts to preserve Plum Island, check out the March 2018 edition of Connecticut Magazine.
Plum Island Biodiversity Inventory - 2016 - Download PDF
Plum Island Biodiversity Inventory - 2012 - Download PDF
These inventories were prepared by the New York Natural Heritage Program. They provide a baseline for evaluating Plum Island's potential as a managed refuge, and illustrate that some species are in decline, while others are thriving.
Plum Island has been recognized aS:
Within two estuaries in the National Estuary Program – Long Island Sound and the Peconic Estuary
“Significant Coastal Habitat” – U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Within New York State’s Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Protection Area
“Peconic Bay Environs Critical Environmental Area” - Suffolk County, New York
Adjoining a “New York State Significant Coastal Fish & Wildlife Habitat” – New York State Dept. of State
“Long Island Sound Stewardship Area” - Long Island Sound Study
The approximately 90% of Plum Island that is undeveloped holds significant ecological and scenic sites; it also holds nationally-significant artifacts and historic buildings, including the National Register of Historic Places Plum Lighthouse (1869) and the National Register of Historic Places Fort Terry (1897) army barracks and weapons batteries. An ecological gem, Plum Island is home to federally threatened and NYS-endangered Piping Plovers, along with approximately 228 other bird species that use the island for breeding or migratory purposes. In addition, it is one of the most significant seal haul-out sites in southern New England and the largest one in New York, playing host to up to several hundred harbor and gray seals each winter. Over 111 species of conservation concern are found on this island of ecological abundance.
Photo credit: Robert Lorenz