Peconic Land Trust receives donation of .7 acres of natural lands from D’urso family in Amagansett

February 2, 2016

FEBRUARY 2, 2016. SOUTHAMPTON, NY. John v.H. Halsey, President of the Peconic Land Trust, is pleased to announce that the D’Urso family has donated .7 acres of pristine natural habitat on the eastern edge of Amagansett. The land will be added to the Trust’s adjacent Ship Wreck Preserve increasing the size of the preserve to about 10 acres.

“All of us at the Trust thank the D’Urso family for choosing to conserve this fragile and sensitive piece of natural habitat. It is through the generosity of landowners and communities that conservation opportunities such as this become a reality,” said John v.H. Halsey, President, Peconic Land Trust.

Adjacent to Napeague State Park, the newly expanded Ship Wreck Preserve includes upland pitch pine woodlands and coastal dunes filled with native flora and fauna. The preserve is a known migration point for monarch butterflies who rely on the nectar of seaside goldenrod – a protected New York State flower -- that flourishes on this preserve.

Background on Ship Wreck Preserve

Through several previous transactions, including gifts by an anonymous donor in 2004 and the Ocean Estates Property Owners Association in 2006, the recent D’Urso donation increases the size of the preserve to about 10 acres on Ship Wreck Drive in East Hampton Town. The D’Urso property had originally been subdivided as a single-family building lot in the Ocean Estates subdivision. 

Ship Wreck Preserve contains dune and beach vegetation as well as pine trees and other native flora and fauna. It is in the vicinity of other preserved land, including Napeague State Park, which is adjacent to the east.

In addition to providing habitat for the seaside goldenrod and monarchs and migratory song birds, the preserve includes a coastal dune community that supports many species of plants and animals, including bayberry (shrub), seabeach amaranth (flower), and birds including the snowy owl, black tern, piping plover, and tree swallow, among others.  We are thankful to all for their foresight to protect this rich, but fragile environment.