Silver Beech Preserve

The woodlands in the North Amagansett area of which Silver Beech Preserve is part — approximately 600 acres preserved — is critical for the bio-diversity of the forest, offering habitat for a wide variety of sensitive species including great horned owls, innumerable migrating birds, and Eastern box turtle. Equally important, the preserve land is part of the Town of East Hampton’s Water Recharge Overlay District, sitting above the deepest part of the aquifer, our sole source of drinking water. Through land conservation, we are all working together to improve the quality of our precious water resources.

The preserve is home to the largest American Chestnut on the South Fork. In the summer of 2020, Mike Bottini visited the tree and wrote the column, “Helping the American Chestnut Survive” for the Southampton Press/East Hampton Press/Sag Harbor Express.

Mike talks about a fungus, introduced around 1890, that decimated the North American population of trees that once made up 25% of the forests from Maine to Georgia, including here on Long Island.

And, about how dedicated volunteers from Seatuck Environmental Association and Save the Great South Bay, led by naturalists John Potente and co-directors of the American Chestnut Foundation’s Long Island Chapter, Frank Piccinnini and Niko Nantsis are working to restore the American Chestnut population here on Long Island.

Check out the article for more on the history and how you can help in their restoration efforts.

This expanse of woodland would not be here if it weren’t for families like Maggie and Deborah’s — including Evan Frankel, the Potter family, Mary and Peter Stone, Andy Sabin, William Lange, Drs. Robert Abel & Helen Carter, and Deborah Light — who believed that conservation outcomes were possible. We are truly grateful to them and the hundreds of other families who have trusted us to help them protect their family lands.