Girl Scouts Fight Noise Around Pussy’s Pond

If they only knew, the wildlife around Pussy’s Pond in Springs would surely thank East Hampton’s Girl Scout Troop 419.

With a bronze award already earned — for which the scouts created a pamphlet on endangered wildlife, spent a night at the Wolf Conservation Center in South Salem, N.Y., and sailed on a whale-watching vessel, among additional field research — the scouts’ journey toward a silver award has included a study of noise pollution. That research took them to the town trustees’ June 23 meeting and the July 9 meeting of the town’s nature preserve committee, where they proposed a sign requesting that noise be kept to a minimum so as not to disturb animals.

“We decided we wanted to make a sign to get people aware of the noise and try and get them to quiet down a little,” Alexandra Schumacher, a Cadette, told the trustees last month. “The animals would be happier if that happened.”

After all, as Sienna Bowen, another Cadette, explained to the nature preserve committee, “The animals are having a hard day trying to survive.”

The scouts were warmly received by both the trustees and the nature preserve committee, who are expected to issue a joint recommendation to the town board that a sign be approved. “These girls are very passionate,” said Lisa Brown, their leader. “They have been following environmental issues from the start.”

Automobile traffic is a prime culprit, the girls said, though they also determined that their own activities disturbed wildlife. “We noticed how all the animals were running away when we were talking,” Caroline Brown, who is Ms. Brown’s daughter, told the trustees. “We noticed that, when we walked up to a deer, it ran away.”

The scouts submitted a drawing of the proposed sign to the nature preserve committee and asked for additional suggestions as to its design, construction, and placement. If all goes according to plan, the town board will accept the joint recommendation and the proposal will be adopted. A ceremony at the pond would mark the sign’s installation.

Diane McNally, clerk of the trustees, was enthusiastic about the idea when it was presented in June and again at the nature preserve committee’s meeting, which she attended. “I have no objection to the Girl Scouts trying to alleviate noise,” she said at the trustees’ meeting. “We will accept into the record their recommendations or suggestions for a sign.”

At the trustees’ July 14 meeting, she briefed her colleagues on the nature preserve committee’s deliberations. The sign would be installed on land under that group’s authority, not trustee jurisdiction, she said. “The nature preserve committee will continue to work with them,” she said of the scouts. “They’re a great group of girls.”