Plum Island: Closer to Conservation

Plum Island is now closer to being conserved than ever before. At the end of 2020, a provision to halt the public auction of Plum Island was included in the year-end general appropriations bill. This restores the normal disposal procedure for federal property. The Island is now under the federal Department of Homeland Security. The next steps are to ensure the island is transferred to another federal agency, state or other entity, a process that may take several years — click here for the press release from the Preserve Plum Island Coalition.

The Preserve Plum Island Coalition, made up of over 60 organizations from New York and Connecticut, including the Peconic Land Trust, advocates for the permanent protection of the Island’s irreplaceable resources. Over 80 percent of its 840 acres are undeveloped. Its habitats and ecological interactions with the other nearby islands and surrounding rich estuarine waters contribute to Plum Island’s high ecological value.

For more information, visit PreservePlumIsland.org.