A diverse mosaic of pitch pine woodlands, pitch pine-oak forests, coastal plain ponds, swamps, marshes, bogs and streams, the Long Island Pine Barrens are one of the most important factors contributing to the health and purity of Long Island's treasured drinking water.

Ecological Importance

The Pine Barrens are a rare opportunity to preserve a large, contiguous, ecologically functional landscape in the midst of a heavily urbanized area. It is The Nature Conservancy's challenge to protect the hydrological and ecological integrity of the Long Island Pine Barrens, while recognizing human needs and accommodating development in the adjacent compatible growth area (Long Island Pine Barrens Protection Area). 

For a wealth of information, visit the Central Pine Barrens Commission website.

Conservation Concerns

About 52,000 acres of relatively intact Pine Barrens still remain in what is called the "core area". Much of this core is contiguous, expansive Pine Barren forest, although various roads cross the core area, which contains some houses, agricultural fields, golf courses, and limited commercial development. The surrounding area has a greater density of residential, commercial, and agricultural development.

Wildland fires play a very prominent role in the Pine Barrens, considered by Conservancy scientists and others as "fire dependent" natural communities. Many rare or unique species have adapted to and actually depend on periodic fires for long term survival.   With the ever-increasing effectiveness of fire control efforts, fires have become less frequent leading to declining forest health and greater risk of uncontrollable wildfires like the Sunrise fires of 1995.  The Conservancy is working with partners to implement carefully controlled prescribed burns in the Pine Barrens to restore forest health while reducing the risk of severe wildfires. 

You can learn more about fire in the Pine Barrens and the Nature Conservancy's Fire Initiative here.

Conservation Concerns

The Pine Barrens is a dynamic landscape, where natural ecological processes like fire, hydrology (water flow), and animal migration thrive in diverse natural communities. To keep these processes working, the Conservancy follows these strategies:

• Maintain and/or restore natural processes to the Pine Barrens ecosystem (especially fire and hydrological cycles)
• Preserve a healthy Pine Barrens ecology in forests, woodlands, plains, swamps and ponds
• Ensure no net loss in acreage of natural communities in the ecosystem
• Keep all existing coastal plain pond and pond shore communities at high-quality levels
• Maintain the pine-oak forest matrix that connects and unifies the Pine Barrens.
• Preserve viable populations of moths, butterflies, and damselflies

Current Projects

Pine Barrens Fire Management:
The Long Island Pine Barrens has been selected by the Conservancy's Fire Learning Network as one of five demonstration sites nationwide.  Working with local partners in fire management, science based objectives for ecological fire management have been developed with an eye toward concurrently reducing wildland fire risks to local communities. 

Pine Barrens Protected Lands Council:
A collaboration of land managers and interested citizens meet regularly to coordinate stewardship of protected lands.  The Protected Lands Council has utilized a Conservancy developed planning tool to develop guiding Ecological principles for management.  See the Central Pine Barrens Joint Planning and Policy Commission webpage for more information.

Dwarf Pine Plains restoration:
The globally rare Dwarf Pine Plains are limited in extent by underlying soils and historic fire patterns to a contiguous 1,700 acre area of Westhampton, NY.  The Nature Conservancy has begun a pilot restoration project with volunteer partners from local schools, businesses, and land management agencies.  Up to 400 acres of the Dwarf Pine Plains have been cleared or disturbed in recent decades and have been slow to return due to the hot, dry site conditions that maintain this unique community.

Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): Photo © Carl Heilman II (Pine Barrens); Photo © Carl Heilman II  (Pine tree); Photo © D. Sias/TNC (gerardia).