Governor Andrew M. Cuomo has signed into law a bill establishing protection and conservation areas for marine mammals and birds that live on the land and waters of Plum Island, Great Gull Island, and Little Gull Island.
State Senator Monica R. Martinez, who sponsored the bill, said in a statement that "the new Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Protection Area law will bring recognition and protection to this important habitat for marine mammals, sea turtles, and many other animals" Senator Martinez, whose Third District includes the south shore of central Suffolk County, noted that "this assemblage of islands and their surrounding waters underpin a rich and biologically unique part of our state . . . Turtles and marine mammals are increasingly encountering eroded habitats. Plum Island, Great Gull Island, and Little Gull Island are isolated from the mainland and this area is of unique physical and biological character."
Assemblyman Steve Englebright supported the legislation in the lower house. A geologist and former college professor, his Fourth District takes in the county's central north shore.
Plum Island, in addition to being home to the Plum Island Animal Disease Center, features virtually untouched, undeveloped habitats that support hundreds of plant and wildlife species. The Department of Homeland Security has plans to decommission the research center and move its operations to a new facility in Kansas in 2022, and the General Services Administration has proposed auctioning off the entire island to the highest bidder afterward, to offset the cost of building the new center. Federal lawmakers along the coast of Long Island Sound, including Congressman Lee Zeldin and Senator Richard Blumenthal, oppose the sale and have proposed legislation to stop it. Advocacy groups including the Preserve Plum Island Coalition and the Citizens Campaign for the Environment are backing the bipartisan effort.
