Last year we held a yearly wrap up on our social media accounts. It was an enjoyable way for us to recount the year’s events in an episodic way, highlighting a different event each week leading up to the New Year. This year we wanted to do something similar, but here on the LIPBS website instead! This way, you can binge through all our highlights from this year at once, instead of needing to wait a week to get your fix of the LIPBS!

Let’s open this with our big event from the summer, the 30^th Anniversary Celebration of the Pine Barrens Protection Act! Or rather, the 30^th Anniversary Celebration of the *Signing* of the Pine Barrens Protection Act. Our event was held in the very same Southaven County Park where former Governor Mario Cuomo signed the act into law in 1993. There, the founders of the LIPBS were joined by current staff, as well as supporters and locally elected representatives, all to celebrate the anniversary of the landmark act.

Credit: Wayne Cook

At the event we reminisced about the past, but also looked to the future with our “The Best of The Rest initiative,” which has currently brought approximately 900 acres out of the desired 3,800 to the appraisal/negotiations/acquisition table. Playing between speakers, was the very same band that played at the original signing in 1993, a but older, just like the rest of us. The entire event capped off with a guided hike around the park from Society Board Member, co-founder and renowned environmentalist John Turner.

Credit: Dylan Eiden

Also at this event was the awards ceremony for our Middle School Kids Go To College program, which was held a month prior. For the first time since 2019, the college component was live, held at Stony Brook University, on the SOMAS campus. There, students from three Patchogue-Medford middle schools were treated to a lecture from Dr. Chris Gobler, a world-renowned scientist, and professor at the university. Dr. Gobler went over the water-related issues plaguing Long Island, as well as some of the solutions which have been put to work over the last few years.

Credit: Dylan Eiden

Once Dr. Gobler finished his presentation, it was time for the students to put on presentations of their own, showing off their own projects, which they had been researching and preparing for months before. These projects differed from student to student, as observed by both Dr. Gobler and the LIPBS staff. After the event had concluded, the Society staff took their time reviewing the projects, before selecting just a select few to be presented with awards at our summer celebration.

And speaking of celebrations, we once again hosted our yearly Gala in October, this time marking the 46^th anniversary of the Society. This event was focused largely on recapping the two events we just went over, but did come attached with our ever popular Silent Auction, with a host of getaways and restaurant trips included as the incentives.

Regardless of what big events we hosted this year though, our focus has remained on securing parcels through “The Best of The Rest.“  Progress has been steady since we began, and we are on good pace to ensure that Long Island’s open space will stay preserved for generations to come.

By Andrew Wong, Long Island Pine Barrens Society

As anyone who’s ever had to take a back road on the north shore can tell you, Long Island has an abundance of wild turkeys. Around now they can be a bit of a festive sight to see crossing the road, but any other time of the year it can be a bit stressful to see these big birds loitering in the middle of the road. You really don’t want to hit one of these birds while they’re just hanging out so you might find yourself just sitting and staring at them for a few seconds, waiting for them to cross the road. This isn’t an experience unique to turkeys though, as plenty of us have probably had one or two scares when a deer jumped in front of us out of some brush.

Credit: Brookhaven National Lab

In general, avoiding these big birds can be a challenge, especially because of how well their dark feathers blend into the color of the ground and trees. This, combined with just how calm turkeys tend to be around humans, makes them a real risk on the road. So, be sure to practice basic driving safety, eyes on the road and all, but even then there’s a real chance you might not see a group of turkeys until you’re just a few yards away from them. In these sorts of cases, assuming you’re going the speed limit, combined with how low that limit is on most back roads where you’re likely to encounter a turkey, a sudden stop should still be perfectly safe.

Of course, if you’re going well over the limit, or maybe on a road where the limit is much higher, a sudden stop can be dangerous. Tempting as it might be to swerve out of the way of a pack of birds, the sad reality is that a turkey is a whole heck of a lot softer than the trunk of a tree, and if there’s not ample road, you’re a lot better off not risking a hospital trip over a couple of them. This is of course, a last resort scenario. Ideally you’ll either be going the speed limit, or have enough road that a higher speed swerve won’t take you off the road. In any other situation though, it’s important to place the safety of yourself and your passengers first.

 A beautiful bird, but not worth your life.

All of this is magnified in hazardous weather conditions. If there’s heavy fog or worse, heavy rain, then the odds of you being able to see anything in front of you, much less something rushing out of the brush, is low. If an unfortunate turkey or deer jumps out in front of you trying to make any evasive maneuver, even going a reasonable speed, will put you and other drivers at risk. If you do happen to hit something in hazardous weather, it’s important not to stop driving, or to look behind you to assess damage done. If you want to check on the wildlife you collided with, gradually slow down, and pull over some distance ahead. Stopping suddenly or taking your eyes off the road puts everyone in danger, and you should only go to investigate once you’re safely parked on the side of the road.

We realize this isn’t a particularly enjoyable conversation to have at any time of year, but with winter coming soon and recent bouts of heavy fog, it’s important to take all possible measures to keep yourself and others safe on the road. We all love our wild neighbors on the island, but if the worst-case scenario happens, it’s important to place you, your passengers, and other drivers’ safety above that of the wildlife. An animal collision is tragic, but not as much so as a car driven into a tree or home.

By Andrew Wong, Long Island Pine Barrens Society

Cover Photo by Matt Foster on Unsplash

Last week, we hosted our 46^th Annual Environmental Gala! There was quite a leadup to the event itself, and after a live broadcast on Facebook and a Premiere on YouTube, everyone at the Society got to breathe a sigh of relief. In case you missed the Gala, you can watch the full video now on YouTube! But, in case you were looking for something more newspaper adjacent to go with your morning Coffee, we’ll also be summarizing it here!

A Lot of the footage for this year’s Gala actually came directly from our Summer celebration of the 30^th Anniversary of the Pine Barrens Protection  Act’s signing! We covered that whole event in a separate blog post back over the summer, but we’ll run it down quickly here. Opening speeches from Executive Director Dick Amper and Society Board Member Tom Casey opened the event, with kind remembrance of the work done and some light humor. After they got their words in, a number of local politicians took the stage to recount their own experiences with the Pine Barrens Protection act, and where they were when the Act was passed. This section of the Gala was closed out with some music from the Sunnyland Jazz Band, the same band that played all those years ago when the act was first signed!

John Turner, John Cryan, Ed Romaine, and Dick Amper

The next section of the Gala was a recounting of our yearly Middle School Kids Go To College program, with a brand new video produced just for the Gala! In it, We showed off some of the event itself, from our grand assembly of 3 different schools at Stony Brook University, to our individual visits to each school, you’ll get to see every bit of the program right from the comfort of your home! Once we were done at the schools, we went back to our 30^th anniversary celebration to present individual awards to some of the winning students!

Dr. Christopher Gobler and Dick Amper

Finally, the event closed out with an important presentation by Society Board Member and environmentalist John Turner on our new initiative, The Best of The Rest.  In his presentation John covered all the different parcels we’re still fighting to preserve, as well as the various flora and fauna which inhabit the parcels. Not naming this year’s gala after the initiative doesn’t mean we’re pushing The Best of The Rest any less, and we’re always working behind the scenes with local government and other non-profits to try and secure as much of the land for preservation as possible.

John Turner speaking about The Best of The Rest

And with that, our Gala was closed out by Executive Director Dick Amper, before shifting into some highlights of our special Silent Auction (which may or may not be over by the time you read this). The Gala season is, to put it lightly, a bit of a busy time for us, but every bit of the work we do is worth it to share with people our continual progress and history.

We hope you enjoyed watching Splash: Clean Water Now as much as we enjoyed putting it on. We’ll see you next year for our 47^th Gala!

By Andrew Wong, Long Island Pine Barrens Society

The topic of water quality and quantity is very much so central to the LIPBS’s core mission. If the Pine Barrens themselves are our bread, then the underground aquifer is our butter. Protecting Long Island’s precious aquifer has always been the goal as much as protecting its precious forests, but that focus on water becomes more and more important with each passing year.

Recently, an article published in the New York Times highlighted Long Island’s water problem, as just a piece of a greater issue happening across the country due to overuse. The article is hardly an enlightening read if you’ve been paying attention for the last few decades, though it’s sobering regardless. While the article is paywalled on the NYT website (unless you are a subscriber), it can be read for free through the internet archive, a free online library (the formatting is a bit messy though, so you’ll have to scroll down a bit to find the main article).

The article, in its entirety, confirms one thing that should come as no surprise to Long Island environmentalists. One of the largest obstacles to better regulations for our water supply is overuse and contamination by for-profit organizations and companies. Right here in Suffolk County, the County legislature has not let resolutions advance so that residents could vote to incur a slight sales tax increase to ensure clean water! Another issue is loss of open space for water recharge. While the article highlights industrial farmer associations as a significant opponent, Long Islanders will be much more familiar with land developers being significant opponents to better regulations. And then there are golf course owners, with their “need” to overuse their sprinklers to keep a palatable green grass across the course.

The excessive amount of water “needed” to maintain a golf course

If it’s not some sort of for-profit organization though, it’s the government itself highlighting profit over people’s lives, with one of the interviewees claiming that “If we start showing that kind of data, that kind of goes into your property values,” a quote from Oklahoma’s own Water Resources Board as to why data on water quality was not conveyed directly to homeowners. The mere potential for future tax dollars was enough to deny people the right to know that their drinking water was drying up. This is hardly a new problem anywhere though, corporations and government putting profit over lives has long been a staple in areas like Southern Philadelphia, where an oil refinery was able to operate for 150 years, poisoning the local residents and workers with cancer causing smoke and runoff. Despite decades of protests from local residents over the very obvious health risks posed by the refinery, no government intervention ever occurred, even with generation after generation being led to either early graves or livelong complications. The refinery was only ever shut down when its own safety violations compounded, and resulted in an explosion which even further poisoned the local residents, who still have not been offered justice in the wake of their century-long fight.

Such instances, when put alongside the constant fight across the nation by environmental groups, highlights the deeper root of our water issues. More so than any one person might waste a few gallons of water by taking a 20-minute shower, or more so than one person can contribute to the pollution of the ocean by forgetting to recycle a can. The root of these threats to our water, and our land, have always, at their core, been the for-profit nature of corporations and government inaction.

The Lewis Road PRD Project, one of many developments targeting our land and water

For over 40 years now Long Island has been under constant threat from both of these groups. Corporations and developers who have been poisoning our water as far back as the first suburbs, and government that refuses to act even when given the resources, highlighted as far back as the Suffolk Country Sewer Scandal, and now recently when Suffolk Country tried to steal millions from taxpayers by using money for general operations meant for water quality improvements.

Change and recovery, as far off as they may seem, are entirely possible. However, it will take more than just turning off our sprinklers or taking shorter showers to achieve it. It will take changes from the ground up, on a far deeper level, that can only be achieved through proper large-scale reform. Reform that is already being fought for by innumerable different groups on the ground, that require support to continue their causes. The work we and those other groups do today is done on the hope that 50 years from now, future generations will not have to do the same.

By Andrew Wong, Long Island Pine Barrens Society

Summer has nearly come and gone; did everyone get to have some fun out in the sun? Even if you didn’t, hopefully you were able to see some of the bright green trees from out your window! There’ll be even more beauty to catch from the comfort of your home in the fall, but for now we’ve got other matters to press.

Back when Spring first came into bloom, we made a few posts on our social media advising folks to cut back on their sprinkler use during the season. We mentioned that, even though we all enjoy a nice green lawn, there’s ways to have it while saving water. But what if you don’t enjoy having that lawn? What if it’s actually a bit of an eyesore? What if the stench of chemical pesticides sprayed on top of it every time your neighborhood landscapers come through is starting to get to you? That last part might be a bit of a projection, but the point remains that if you’ve got space in front of your home, there’s a million things you could do with it that’d be prettier, and better for the environment than a lawn. The process of pulling up that lawn and replacing it with something just a bit more helpful to the local ecosystem is called Rewilding.

What is Rewilding?

Rewilding is something of a blanket term that can refer to a number of processes, but for our sake today, it’s the process of replacing a lawn with local and native plants to support pollinator colonies. A lawn has just about one use and it’s to look nice for a HOA, not even local deer can enjoy munching on it with all the pesticides they tend to need. Rewilding then seeks to use all that wasted space to create a miniature ecosystem right in your front yard, utilizing local flora to attract and support local pollinators as well as some of the bigger fauna on the island.

Rewilding is also something entirely different to just leaving your lawn to grow unchecked. Letting the kind of grass most of us have just grow without trimming is an open invitation for ticks and mites to settle into your yard, which none of us want. Rewilding is instead the process of completely removing your lawn, so that the space can be used more efficiently.

By planting small shrubs and flowers where there was once a lawn, pollinator species will have a much easier time gathering the resources they need to survive and thrive, though it’s important to recognize that bees aren’t the only pollinators on the island. Wasps, hornets, and even flies all pollinate different plants on the island too, and if you don’t want whole swarms of them in your yard, it’s important to pick your plants and seeds carefully, and to know which are pollinated by what.

How to Start.

The very first step to rewilding your lawn is to check if you’re even allowed to do so. Those living under especially restrictive HOAs may not be permitted to have anything but a ½ in cut lawn in their front yard, and we’d hate to leave any of our supporters with fines (unless defying your HOA is a hobby of yours, in which case stick it to ‘em). Certain communities may also share a contract for landscaping services, which you’ll want to get yourself out of as to avoid damage to your new yard.

Your typical lawn with some flourishes
Photo by I Do Nothing But Love on Unsplash

Once you’ve cleared the prefatory hurdles though, you’ll need to start removing the lawn. There’s not exactly a single species of grass shared by the suburban nightmares of LI, and if you didn’t plant your lawn yourself, you’re not likely to even know what kind of grass you have. That said, no matter your grass, removing it is a fairly simple process. In fact, if you already contract landscapers for lawn care, you can likely just pay them to remove your lawn if the process is too much of a hurdle for you. If you enjoy having your hands in the dirt though, a tool like a tiller or sod cutter won’t exactly make short work of it, but it’ll be a lot faster than doing it with a shovel.

Planning it out

The next step before going any further, is getting a rough idea of how you’ll want your new yard to look. Consider taking some photos of your yard, or grabbing one off of google earth so you can have an easy diagram to work with and draw over. Consider what plants you’d want where, consider walkways or any decorations and where they would go. Maybe even consider going for a theme with it! There’s a lot you can do with a green space when you’re not worried about that 1 inch limit, so get creative with it and try different ideas!

Once you have a layout decided, it’s time to actually buy your new plants. Every plant you get for your yard should be native to your area, in our case Long Island, so that the local pollinators can benefit from it. There’s a lot more to consider even when you narrow down the selection like that though. Buying seedlings or shrubs already grown will be the fastest and easiest way to reach your goal, but it’s going to be far more expensive. Seeds alone on the other hand will be a long process that may not bear fruit if you don’t have experience growing form seed. It can take years for some small shrubs to grow large enough to cover land after all. Ideally you would want to go for a split between the two in favor of seedlings. Knowing how everything will look and being able to see the spacing between everything will be important in the long run.

Photo by Jonathan Kemper on Unsplash

On the topic of the long run, this is very much so a marathon more than a sprint. Your new yard isn’t going to be the prettiest at first, especially if you’re more used to the vibrant green that a lawn typically provides. Especially in the winter months you’ll be dealing with an especially barren looking space, but given time and care you’ll find there’s so much more to be done with your space than we’re left to believe. Not to mention the space you’ll clear up by getting rid of that old noisy lawn mower.

Those of us privileged enough to own a home tend to waste the space we have much of the time. A clean and vibrant front lawn might look nice up against a dozen other identical lawns, but what does it do for us? The damage that pesticides and herbicides do just to keep a green lawn can be devastating to ecosystem, and that space is better used for quite literally anything else. We hope you will consider then the prospect of rewilding, not just as a way to beautify your space, but as a way to help support your wild neighbors on the island.

By Andrew Wong, Long Island Pine Barrens Society

As much as a pair of sweats and a stretched out t-shirt may be one of the most comfortable outfits a person can wear, it’s hardly a stylish one. That said there’s certainly an argument to be made for the form over fashion benefits of an elastic waistband and breathable top. Such dilemmas can pop up all throughout our daily life, but looking good is not the most important in the quiet solitude of the wilderness. Will the birds judge me for having mismatched socks? Will the trees laugh at me for my color coordination? Are the ticks actually avoiding me because my pants are ugly? There are plenty of tips and tricks to keep yourself comfortable and coordinated on your hikes, especially in the summer months.

Keeping It Long

We’re no strangers to tick awareness here at the LIPBS, and we’ve made a few different guides to keep yourself safe on hikes, so we’ll just gloss over the basic dress code here. A long sleeve shirt, tucked into long pants, tucked into long socks. Minimizing skin exposure is always ideal but be sure to use repellant for the areas that can’t be covered. This will also help to protect you from cuts or scrapes should you pass through a particularly branchy area.

Society Executive Director Richard Amper wearing light colored pants on the beach.

Keeping It cool

Ok, so you’ve got your long sleeve long panted outfit, but it’s the dead of summer, and temperatures are regularly climbing into the 90’s, how do you compensate for that? Just as important as coverage is making sure that your clothes are breathable and light, which will typically come down to material. Nylon is the biggest contender. It is light, breathable material that easily stretches without deforming. A tight knit also makes sure nothing is going to get through.

That being said, nylon can get really expensive, really fast. Some of the top-rated nylon hiking pants can run you well over $100. Not to mention, nylon can just as easily be made to trap in heat given the right construction. You certainly wouldn’t want to go hiking in a pair of 100% wool pants, but there’s a wide range of materials that can keep you cool. When buying clothes for hiking, consider looking for the same style of clothes you might wear during a workout. Quick drying shirts and socks will keep you the most comfortable in high heat, but if you’re on a budget the socks will be the most useful in keeping you comfortable.

Keeping It Colorful

Just like with materials, the color of your outfit will have a big impact on your ability to stay comfortable in the heat, but there are a lot of other things to consider too. Lighter colors are best for our local Pine Barrens, beige being something of an iconic color for environmentalists, but any lighter shade will also be good. This is a two- sided benefit, for one, the lighter color will trap heat less easily than darker colors will, keeping you a bit cooler in the sun. On top of that, especially across Long Island, lighter colors will make it easier to spot and remove any ticks that may have latched on to your person during a hike. The pants are the area most likely for a tick to attach to though, so if you need to buy new and want to stay on a budget, focus there rather than on the shirt.

Photo by Charlie Hammond via Unsplash

However, when trekking outside of Long Island, or even on some of our more wild trails, you may want to be wearing some clothes that are more vibrant in color than plain lights. This is because, in the event of a worst-case scenario where you end up lost or missing, bright colors like red or orange will make it easier for people to find you in the brush. This is why you’ll typically see such bright colors on mountain climbers, who need to be easily identifiable against sheets of white. While our local Pine Barrens aren’t quite subject to the same conditions that would necessitate such color choices, you wouldn’t want to go hiking in woodland camo either way.

Keeping It Fun

No matter what choices you make based on the above, you should always prioritize comfort on a hike over anything else. Hiking should be a fun activity, and if you force yourself to wear stuffy or uncomfortable clothes just to follow one of these guidelines, then you won’t be enjoying yourself at all. Yes, long pants and shirts are important to keep ticks off, but even if a tick does bite you, it can be easily removed with a pair of tweezers with minimal risk to you. Yes, lightweight clothes and colors will keep you cool on your hike, but especially in the summer most of the Island’s trails are covered by a dense brush that will already keep you shaded for your hike. And yes, identifiable clothes can be important, but as long as you keep to the trails laid out on each hike, your risk of getting lost along the way is negligible.

LIPBS Founder and Board Member John Turner leading a hike, not following any of the precautions we listed here

Hiking is supposed to be fun, so have fun! And don’t obsess over what you’re wearing too much, the trees won’t judge you, we promise.

By Andrew Wong, Long Island Pine Barrens Society

Cover Photo by Jon Flobrant via unsplash

Last Saturday, June 17, the Long Island Pine Barrens Society packed their cars full of tents and posters, and made their way to Southaven County Park, where a very special celebration was held. The tents were built, and posters placed, a single podium was the center of attention, as a long banner was strung between two trees behind it. Slowly, the chairs behind the podium were filled with representatives from all across the county, and by the time 10AM came around, the stage was set for the Pine Barrens Protection Act’s 30^th Anniversary.

The event, much like the act it commemorated, was in turmoil all the way up until the morning it was meant to take place. The forecast called for thunderstorms starting at the very moment the celebration would have begun, and the night before was fraught with anxiety over how the event would be held in a downpour. Despite that though, the weather on the day of the event was some of the best we’d had that week; clear skies and chirping birds made the atmosphere perfect for the commemoration taking place.

Photo by Wayne Cook

The day opened with a short speech from our Executive Director Dick Amper, offering a retrospective of what it took to make it to this point, through all the work that spanned not just the last 30 years, but the society’s entire existence. After he stepped away from the podium, Amper was quickly replaced by Society Board Member Tom Casey, who offered some words of his own, before introducing our “star-studded” lineup of speakers.

Local representatives, both former and current took to the podium, to offer not only retrospectives, but their hopes for the future, and what work remained for the Society and Long Islanders to do. While many of these speakers had been there when the Act was first passed, several were also newer figures in Long Island politics. The speakers offered the insights of those who were allowed to serve a Long Island that had already been, in many ways, preserved. These talks took up the first hour of the day and led directly into the second highlight of the event, The Best of The Rest.

Photo by Wayne Cook

After a short break in speeches, and some live music from the returning Sunnyland Jazz Band, Society Board Member and environmentalist John Turner took center stage, to offer the crowd and attending representatives a deeper insight into the Society’s newest endeavor. The Best of The Rest will be one- year-old in August, and its progress and plan were told with a dedicated eloquence by Turner, keeping the energy of the event high as he spoke on the natural flora and fauna of the different properties. While many of us were already deeply involved with the initiative, Turner’s confident speech made it once again seem like a brave new campaign to preserve Long Island.

Photo by Wayne Cook

When Turner stepped away from the podium, another round of music followed, keeping the crowd in good spirits before moving into the last speaker of the day. It was about an hour and a half into the event when Society Board Member Nina Leonhardt took to the podium, to announce the results of the 2023 Middle School Kids Go To College Science Fair. The science fair, the culmination of a program sponsored by the National Grid Foundation since its inception, has slowly but surely become just as much a part of the Society’s identity as its preservation efforts, having run now for just over 10 years. The program has brought middle school students into a college environment, affording them the opportunity to visit Stony Brook University and hear a talk from SOMAS Professor Dr. Chris Gobler. Even in the deep years of the pandemic, students were assembled via Zoom, and given the chance to hear an in-depth explanation of Long Island’s water quality issues, before being asked to create projects of their own on the matter. Students would research, prepare, and present their projects independently, impressing Society staff more and more with each passing year.

This year offered us the unique opportunity to present the winners of the science fair their awards during the 30^th Anniversary Celebration, instead of via zoom or at an indoor location. Leonhardt called students one by one to the podium, to be presented with their certificates of recognition. Dick Amper  congratulated each student-scientist.

Award recipient student scientist Patrick Halpin standing with someone from the crowd, also named Patrick Halpin.
Photo by Wayne Cook

By the end of the short ceremony, moods were kept high by the band offering one final performance, before the speakers took a final bow, and dispersed for the more independent portion of the event. On the west side of the site, students had their award-winning projects on display for attendees to view and interact with. Right next to them was a collection of boards, detailing the timeline of events leading up to the Pine Barrens Protection Act’s passage, as well as plenty of materials about the Society itself.

Photo by Wayne Cook

And for those too giddy being in a park to stay in just one place, John Turner offered a special guided hike of the park, taking guests from the event site down to the Carman’s River. While it wasn’t a particularly long walk, it was jam-packed with observations and information. No plant went unchecked, and no single tweet from a bird went without identification. Though the walk itself would have only taken about five minutes to complete, the hike lasted closer to an hour as every possible detail was explained along the way.

Photo by Dylan Eiden

And then, the event was over. Attendees stayed to chat for a bit, but by 12:30, you could barely tell there had ever been an event at the park. Then, as the last box was packed into the last car, the skies opened up, and the forecasted downpour finally came, lowering a literal curtain down over the Pine Barrens Protection Act’s 30^th anniversary.

By Andrew Wong, Long Island Pine Barrens Society

Cover Photo by Wayne Cook

For those lucky enough to own a home, Spring is the season of lawn care. There are many fast spreading weeds and invasives to be on the lookout for, but none are quite as prolific as the dandelion and garlic mustard.

While dandelion is something of an icon in the world of weeds, garlic mustard is a bit more of an unsung pest, at least if you don’t know to look for it. Why not use your weeds to your culinary advantage, and try eating them?

Foraging was, for all intents and purposes, the first job any human ever held, and while it could somewhat share that title with hunting, there’s a whole lot more hoops you’ll have to jump through to go hunting on LI. Foraging, on the other hand, does not require permits, and in the case of weeds and Invasives, can usually be done right in your backyard. There’s a whole world of edible plants right here on the island, and community databases like fallingfruit.org can make it even easier to find them in your area. For the sake of simplicity though, we’ll just focus on the two big ones, dandelion and garlic mustard.

Photo By Viridi Green Via Unsplash

If you follow us on Facebook or Instagram, you may have seen a post from us a few weeks ago about eating dandelion. In that post we talked about using the greens for a fresh salad, or cooking them as a side dish. But did you know there’s even more you can make from the dandelion? If you find a young dandelion which hasn’t yet flowered, you can pull it out of the ground to find a much larger and denser root than you might otherwise. Dehydrating this root, either in a fancy machine or a low heat oven before crushing it in a spice blender will produce an earthy tea that can be enjoyed in place of any store bought bags. For the more mature plants that have already flowered, dandelion jelly makes quick work of those bright petals! This one is a bit more complicated, so we’ll just link our favorite recipe for the stuff instead. https://www.homestead-acres.com/how-to-make-dandelion-jelly/

As for the already tasty sounding garlic mustard, its uses are just about what you’d expect from the name! One thing to note about garlic mustard before going any further though, is that the plant, especially when young, contains a non-negligible level of cyanide. Although you would have to eat quite a lot of it to have negative effects, this can still be a concern for those who may consume cyanide through some other common foods. The best advice for dealing with this is to cook the harvested garlic mustard thoroughly to remove the cyanide (and also mellow the flavor) or to just follow the same rule as seafood when watching out for mercury, and consume in moderation.

Some Garlic Mustard from right outside our office! Tastes like scallions…

When it comes to harvesting garlic mustard, you’ll want to take the tender upper stalks and flower from the plant. You should be able to easily snap the upper stalk right off, similar to asparagus, but if the stalk doesn’t easily break it may be too tough for consumption. Once harvested, the plant can be broken up into 3 core components: the stalk, leaves, and flower. The stalk can fill a role very similar to dandelion greens, and be eaten raw in a salad or cooked for a side dish. The flower and leaves will both have a much stronger, somewhat bitter flavor however, and should be used with caution. Small amounts of each can be added into anything where you might use normal garlic for a heavy hit of flavor, with dishes like pesto or hummus being the most common.

Hopefully, this has given you a bit of inspiration to finally deal with that patch of weeds slowly spreading along the edge of your garden, and if not, hopefully it’s at least reminded you to eat your greens today!

By Andrew Wong, Long Island Pine Barrens Society

Cover Photo by Annie Spratt Via Unsplash

We’re a month into spring now, how is everybody enjoying (or not enjoying) the warmer weather? While it may still vary fairly wildly, the warmer temperatures are a great incentive for most people to get out and go for a hike! If you’d prefer to just rest in a nice park or along a pretty trail though, we have you covered with the perfect activity for doing so, reading! For this month’s blog, we asked a few members of our Board and our executive director for their best environmentally- themed book recommendations and compiled them here.

Of course, if you have any recommendations yourself, do let us know as well! It’s hard to go particularly wrong with a book recommendation.

To start, Board member Elina Alayeva had two recommendations to share with us that were so detailed that we’d feel bad offering you anything but her direct quotes!

The Overstory, by Richard Powers.

“It’s an incredibly ambitious novel and a deeply moving exploration of the interconnectedness of all living things, particularly trees. It tells the story of nine characters whose lives are all profoundly affected by trees, whether they know it or not. The writing is beautiful and lyrical, and the book is both informative and emotionally resonant. Reading it outside in the spring will only deepen an appreciation for the natural world and the complex web of life that sustains us all.”

An American Sunrise, by Joy Harjo.

“A poetry collection by Joy Harjo. Harjo, a member of the Muscogee Creek Nation and the first Indigenous Poet Laureate of the United States, writes emotionally resonant poetry often touching on her heritage. This collection explores themes of history, memory, and resilience, as she reflects on her own family history and the history of Indigenous people in America. It’s a lovely celebration of the natural world and a reminder about the power of storytelling.”

Next up, was a recommendation from Board member Suzanne Ruggles.

“Profound interactions between people and nature … perfectly written.. my favorite page turner.”

Suzanne recommends Prodigal Summer, by Barbara Kingsolver, an anthology of stories about people who share the same land, and how that land affects and changes them, and their relationships. The book connects themes of the human spirit and of nature, to create a story that stands tall even among its contemporaries.

Our third Board member to offer a recommendation this month is Nina Leonhardt. Nina recommends Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel, by Carl Safina.

“This wonderful volume explores animal intelligence, communications and feelings from the perspective of the animal, rather than trying to define how animals are similar to us. Each species should be valued and appreciated for its traits and understood in those terms.”

Next, Board member John Turner offered an in-depth review of An Immense World, by Edward Yong.

“One of the best books I’ve ever read. It highlights the countless sensory adaptations possessed by animals such as echolocation in bats, bloodhounds’ sense of smell, elephants’ use of infrasound, and birds and insects seeing ultraviolet light. The book makes clear we live in a remarkable world filled with wonder……I would HIGHLY recommend the book. “

Mr. Turner also wrote an even lengthier review of the book to be featured in TBR Media’s “Nature Matters” section later this month.

Finally, no list of book recommendations from the Society would be complete without the first publication from our own executive director, “Saving Long Island: The David and Goliath Battle to Preserve the Pine Barrens”. Written by Richard Amper, this book describes the long road from the founding of the LIPBS to the passage of the Pine Barrens Protection Act. Called an “Essential reading for Long Islanders” by its author, this book is a must not just for conservationists, but for anybody looking to learn more about what it takes to protect even the smallest park.

We hope you’ll take some time this spring to get out and get reading while the weather is still nice, though keep an eye out for those April showers!

By Andrew Wong, Long Island Pine Barrens Society

Cover Photo by Ed Robertson on Unsplash

Spring is finally here! Though the temperature this morning may not feel like it, this is a long-awaited reprieve from the frigid months that preceded it (even if we did just get snow last week). For some, though, it’s a sad moment to put away their layered clothes and go back to their warm weather wardrobe. Whatever spring may bring for you personally, there’s no shortage of activities both indoors and outdoors to enjoy during the season! So, follow along with this month’s blog, as we go over some of our favorite springtime activities!

Go for a Hike!

Hang on, hang on! Put those pitchforks away! I’m not here to offer the same few lines about going for a hike that we usually do, that’s being reserved for our 12 for 12 campaign. Instead, I want to talk about some of the specific things to be on the lookout for during this season! The first thing you’ll notice if you’re coming off a few months of winter hiking, is the way that color is slowly seeping back into the dense trees along your favorite trails. It’s already starting in a few different trees, but the next few weeks especially will be filling the tops of those trails back up with a dense brush. Because of that, you may actually find your hikes to be a bit cooler than they were in the winter, since you’ll be in the shade, rather than in direct exposure to the sunlight.

Group Hike at Cranberry Bog Preserve

Something else to be on the lookout for this season are, unfortunately, ticks. Spring is the season when the previously dormant ticks will begin breeding, and increasing in population again, making it more important than ever to make sure you’re prepared. We’ve got plenty of information right here on the LIPBS website on how to protect yourself, but we’ll summarize here: Cover up as much as you’re comfortable with, check yourself in the mirror when you’re done, and be careful, but not paranoid!

Write Some Haiku

For those not familiar with it, Haiku is a style of Japanese poetry that emphasizes structure, and seasonal elements. The falling leaves of autumn, the snowfall of winter, spring showers, or the sweltering heat of summer all apply, as well as anything else that’s only prominent in a single season. This particular style makes it perfect for an indoor appreciation of spring, for those of us not too keen on taking a hike. As it stands though, the seasonal elements of haiku tend to be overshadowed in western discussion by its particular format, that being of 575, 5 syllables, then 7, then 5 again, for a total of 3 lines. The difficulty with this is, of course, that English and indeed any Latin language lack the syllable structure that allowed for this style to emerge in Japan. In Japanese you would count both letters in the word “is” as a syllable, but no such thing is done in English. This can make it especially hard to put together an “authentic” haiku if you don’t have a firm grasp on what constitutes a syllable in the English language. That said, you shouldn’t let something like this stop you from enjoying this seasonal style of poem. It certainly won’t get you any kind words on a haiku forum, but if you want an easier format to follow, try basing 575 on groups of 3 letters and smaller words instead.

So this line

Followed by this one

Makes a haiku

It’s not technically a haiku, but letting technicalities stop you from expressing some appreciation for the season is more of a disservice to the poem than messing with the syllables a bit.

Gardening (again)!

Our whole blog last month was all about gardening, so I won’t be going into it here, but if you’ve never tried gardening before, the best time to start is always whenever you’re reading this! At almost every time of the year there’s a plant that’d be perfect to start seeding or growing, and that comes down to consulting your area’s growing guide. Even if you don’t want to dive in headfirst, consider buying a potted plant at your local hardware store, and see how long it takes for it to outgrow the pot it came in! You might be surprised just how well you do on your first try!

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Take up Cycling!

As it gets warmer out and the days become clearer, it’ll be easier and easier to cycle around your neighborhood, either for leisure or transport! Long Island overall isn’t exactly the best area for long distance roadside cycling, but more and more towns and villages are introducing bike lanes along the sides of the road, making it safer than ever to replace some of your drives with rides!

Always wear a helmet when cycling!
Photo by Jonny Kennaugh on Unsplash

If you don’t already have a bicycle, you can find relatively simple ones at lower prices in big department stores, but what you won’t want to skimp on is the helmet. If you go low on your bike price, you may find that most recommended helmets are almost the same price as your bike, but this is an important area to choose quality over price. Having a flimsy helmet won’t much if you take a nasty spill and knock your head on the road, so don’t skimp on this piece of equipment. A bike lock is the only other thing you’ll need if you plan to use your bike for transport and not just leisure. There’s a whole assortment of add-ons you can get for your bike to make it a real force to be reckoned with!

Hopefully, this spring, you’ll take some of our suggestions here, and find yourself something fun to do, be it indoors or out!

By Andrew Wong, Long Island Pine Barrens Society

Cover Photo by  Sandy Richard