The Nature Conservancy. Protecting nature. Preserving life.™

Hikers © Kara Jackson/The Nature Conservancy

Long Island's Last Stand is a coalition of over 100 concerned environmental, civic and business associations that supports a ten-year action plan to save the most significant remaining open spaces and farmland and to restore and protect our harbors, bays and public parklands.

Without significant increases in the rates of land and water preservation, in ten years currently unprotected open spaces, and watersheds will be completely developed or too fragmented to significantly contribute to environmental goals. The continued loss of farmland may end our sustainable agricultural economy.

A Vision for the 21st Century

Long Island's Last Stand is a comprehensive land and water preservation, management and restoration program that:

• Protects the most important remaining 25,000 acres of open space;
• Protects 10,000 agricultural acres to preserve farming viability;
• Manages and restores tens of thousands of acres of parks, open space, harbors and bays, and farms for our sustainable future.

We support and encourage management and restoration projects led by the Counties and Towns to reverse the accumulated impacts of environmental damage to our lands and waters. Now is the time to manage and restore these lands and waters to sustain the environmental and public health values that led us to preserve them in the first place.

New York state, counties and towns should develop coordinated, complementary funding and policy strategies. We must:

• Increase Long Island’s share of State funding by $85 million a year, for land and water preservation, management and restoration across Long Island;
• Extend the Suffolk County Drinking Water Protection Program with a reconfigured allocation scheme that favors land preservation programs, increasing funding to $40 million annually;
• Increase County funding by $10 million a year to restore and manage the County’s lands and waters
• Create a new and permanent Nassau County Land and Waters Trust fund to provide enhanced parks, and sustainable land and marine natural areas at a level similar to Suffolk County

A long-term and diversified financial commitment at the State, County and Town levels, at acceptable cost to the taxpayer, sets the stage now for public health, environmental and economic sustainability through the 21st Century and beyond. With strategic land purchases and targeted management and restoration activities we can assure that our lands, our waters and our way of life will remain for the benefit of our children and all future generations.