Later this spring, Long Island Sound Study partners with the Town of Brookhaven for field trips to several of Long Island Sound Stewardship Sites, including West Meadow Beach in Stony Brook and Cedar Beach in Mt. Sinai. Opportunities like nature hikes in West Meadow Beach (pictured) provide teachers and student with opportunities to learn more about the wonders of the Sound in a hands-on format. Photo courtesy of Amy Mandelbaum, LISS/NYSG.


Stony Brook, NY, April 17, 2014 - Did you know that Long Island Sound has 33 Stewardship Areas that have been designated by the Long Island Sound Study (LISS) as areas of significant biological, scientific, and/or recreational value? Of these 33 Stewardship Areas, 14 are in New York. These 14 areas span the Sound, from Edith G. Read Wildlife Sanctuary in Westchester to Fishers Island, located two miles south of Connecticut.

To protect and enhance these special places, LISS developed a Stewardship Initiative work group that consists of federal, state, and local partners across the Sound. These partners work together to conserve the Stewardship Areas, increase access to the Sound, protect important habitats, and plan for multiple uses. The work group achieves these tasks by initiating projects to develop creative partnerships with local communities and landowners to protect and enhance the values of these ecologically important places. By promoting community involvement and using a collaborative approach, the Stewardship Initiative work group is striving to address threats and act on opportunities at the Stewardship Areas.

New York Sea Grant has played a vital role in accomplishing the goals of the LISS Stewardship Initiative work group by assisting with the development of the online Stewardship Atlas, www.lisstewardshipatlas.net, connecting students and teachers to the Stewardship Areas through citizen science monitoring and professional development workshops, and coordinating volunteer Stewardship Days, among other programs.

New York Sea Grant’s Long Island Sound Study Outreach Coordinator, Amy Mandelbaum, is currently working with the LISS Stewardship Initiative work group to coordinate Trails Day events at New York Stewardship Areas. National Trails Day, which will be held June 7-8, 2014, was developed by the American Hiking Society as a day where organizations across the United States celebrate their trails by hosting events, such as hikes, biking and horseback rides, paddling trips, bird watching, geocaching, gear demonstrations, and participating in stewardship projects.

Since 2012, LISS has sponsored National Trails Day events at Connecticut Stewardship Areas where guided walks and stewardship projects were conducted. In 2014, Trails Day events are being expanded to New York Stewardship Areas, where nature hikes, bird walks, beach cleanups, and invasive species removal activities will be conducted. These events aim to make the public aware of the recreational and biological importance of these treasured areas around the Sound.

If you would like to participate in one of the many Trails Day events in New York, refer to the LISS Web site, www.longislandsoundstudy.net, or the LISS Facebook page www.facebook.com/longislandsoundstudy.net.  

—Amy Mandelbaum, LISS Outreach Coordinator


More Info:

Long Island Sound is one of the 28 nationally-designated estuaries under the NEP, which was established by Congress in 1987 to improve the quality of Long Island Sound and other places where rivers meet the sea.

The Long Island Sound Study, conducted under the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) National Estuary Program (NEP), is a cooperative effort between the EPA and the states of Connecticut and New York to restore and protect the Sound and its ecosystems.

For more on what you can do to make a difference, click over to the "Get Involved" or "Stewardship" sections of the Long Island Sound Study's Web site. News on the Long Island Sound Study can also be found in New York Sea Grant's related archives.

If you would like to receive Long Island Sound Study's newsletter, please visit their site's homepage and sign up for the "e-news/print newsletter" under the "Stay Connected" box.

For daily updates and tips on how you can help protect and restore Long Island Sound, please join LISS on Facebook or, sign up for their RSS feeds.

New York Sea Grant (NYSG), a cooperative program of Cornell University and the State University of New York, is one of 33 university-based programs under the National Sea Grant College Program (NSGCP) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The NSGCP engages this network of the nation’s top universities in conducting scientific research, education, training and extension projects designed to foster science-based decisions about the use and conservation of our aquatic resources. Through its statewide network of integrated services, NYSG has been promoting coastal vitality, environmental sustainability, and citizen awareness about the State’s marine and Great Lakes resources since 1971.

For updates on Sea Grant activities: www.nyseagrant.org has RSS, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube links. NYSG also offers a free e-list sign up via www.nyseagrant.org/coastlines for NY Coastlines, its flagship publication, which merges with our e-newsletter, Currents, in 2014 - is published several times a year.