In the wake of the March 8 and 9 brush fires in the Pine Barrens around Westhampton Beach, Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine has announced the county’s first Southern Pine Beetle Symposium, which happens on Wednesday from 9 a.m. to noon at Suffolk Community College’s Riverhead campus, in the Montaukett Learning Resource Center, Room 107/108.
“The infestation of the southern pine beetle does not only have environmental implications, but causes a serious public safety threat to the Pine Barrens and to our residents who reside in the surrounding communities, as we witnessed just a couple of weeks ago,” Mr. Romaine said in a statement. “Following last month’s brush fire and the upcoming 30th anniversary of the Sunrise Wildfire, we are being proactive and using this opportunity to further inform our communities as to how they can be best informed and prepared this summer.”
About 600 acres burned in the Pine Barrens last month. The wildfire around Sunrise Highway in 1995 destroyed thousands of acres there.
The symposium will include information on public safety, fire prevention and mitigation, forest management efforts, beetle biology, and homeowner education. Mr. Romaine will be the keynote speaker. Scheduled to participate are the Suffolk County Department of Fire, Rescue, and Emergency Services, the Suffolk County Parks Department, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Brookhaven National Laboratory, the Central Pine Barrens Commission, and Seatuck.
The symposium is free and open to the public. More information is at suffolkcountyny.gov.
