If you’ve been following the Long Island Pine Barrens Society’s social media accounts (facebook.com/PineBarrensSociety and @lipinebarrens on Instagram) then you’ve probably seen at least one of our recent posts detailing the status of our “The Best of the Rest” initiative. This initiative’s goal is the preservation of another 3,800 acres of Pine Barrens land, to complete the preservation project begun in 1993 with the passage of the Pine Barrens Protection Act. Odds are, if you’re reading this blog, you’re already on board with this idea. But believe it or not, there are people who might not be on the same page. This blog is thus going to answer, as succinctly as possible, the simple question, “why is land preservation necessary?”
I’ll skip the sappy, sentimental stuff about nature having inherent value – I believe it does, and I’m sure most folks reading this do, too, but it’s a position that veers firmly into the realm of moral philosophy. That feels too esoteric and too grand in scope for this blog post, but perhaps it’s something we’ll return to in the future. Instead, I want to focus on some of the practical, tangible facts that illustrate the benefits that land preservation has both for the wildlife that lives in said land, and the humans who live around it.
First, habitat fragmentation can pose a serious risk to many of Long Island’s terrestrial and semi-aquatic animals. A perfect example of this is the Eastern Mud Turtle, a semi-aquatic reptile which largely resides in bodies of water. If its present habitat dries up, though, the mud turtle will move on foot to a new body of water. Odds are, you’ve seen turtles try to cross a road before, and hopefully you’ve done the right thing and escorted the critter to the where it’s going. But, if there was no development at all, imagine how much easier it would be for the turtles to get where they were going. Thus, preserving as much land as possible ensures the existence of as much continuous habitat as possible, allowing for animals to more easily travel from place to place and deal only with the risks naturally posed to them – and not the horror of an 18-wheeler speeding at them at 60 mph.
An Eastern Mud Turtle in its natural habitat.
Now, let’s talk about something that benefits not just the critters, but also every Long Islander: water. If you didn’t know, water is necessary to life, and here on Long Island, we have remarkably clean, safe water (relative to much of the rest of the country). Why is that? The Pine Barrens of course! While one half of the “Pine Barrens” name comes from the sort of tree that dominates the region, the other half comes from the fact that the soil throughout is remarkably nutrient poor. It is for this reason that the Pine Barrens were left untouched by early settlers, as the land was absolutely useless for farming. And yet, this barren, rocky soil has another purpose: it acts as a natural filter. Thus, when water (such as from rain) seeps into the Pine Barrens soil, it trickles down into the ground, and as it does, much of the particulate matter contained within is filtered out by the soil. Beneath the Pine Barrens lies a vast aquifer, which is where we source our drinking water from. Since the aquifer lies underground, the more pollutants that reside on the surface, the more likely it is that contaminants can seep down into it. If too much land in and around the Pine Barrens is developed, then there’s that much more land that is subjected to constant pollution. Thus, the more land that’s preserved, the more the aquifer is protected, and our drinking water supply will remain all the purer.
A diagram of Long Island’s aquifers.
This is merely a taste of the benefits that land preservation provides. From the point of view of the humblest turtles, to the big picture perspective of human infrastructure, there’s all the reason in the world to preserve as much land as possible. A healthier Long Island means happier, healthier Long Islanders, after all!
