Environment DEC
From the August 2005 issue
New York Acquires Amsterdam Beach as New State Park
Montauk Lighthouse
Governor George E. Pataki signed an agreement to acquire more than 122 acres of oceanfront land on the bluffs of Montauk Point in the Town of East Hampton for a new state park. The property, known as Amsterdam Beach, includes 54 acres of sensitive wetlands and maritime grasslands and is one of the last remaining significant tracts of undeveloped land in Montauk. It will become the eighth new state park to open on Long Island since 1995.
"With this agreement between the state, Suffolk County and the Town of East Hampton, we will be preserving precious oceanfront access and natural resources for greater outdoor recreational opportunities," Governor Pataki said. "Securing this valuable open space ensures the continued protection of Montauk Point from development while creating new state park land for the enjoyment of Long Islanders, visitors and future generations."
In his 2004 State of the State Address, Governor Pataki committed to opening five new state parks in the next two years and opening or expanding 20 parks during the next five years. In May he opened Jamesport State Park on the North Shore, the seventh state park on Long Island to be opened since 1996.
Priority Acquisition
With more than 1,288 feet of ocean frontage, the new acquisition, part of the Montauk Peninsula, has been identified as a priority in the state's Open Space Conservation Plan. It will be made by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, Suffolk County and the Town of East Hampton. The state's $4 million share of the purchase would be supported through the Environmental Protection Fund. In addition, the town's $7 million share of the purchase price is supported through a $1 million grant secured by Congressman Timothy Bishop in 2004 through the federal Coastal and Estuarine Land Preservation Program.
Critical Habitat
Fifty-four acres of tidal and freshwater wetlands are interspersed throughout the property, including maritime shrublands, a natural community type known locally as "Montauk Moorlands," including a chain of smaller ponds that drain into a larger freshwater pond on the ocean bluff. The site provides critical habitat to several rare and endangered species such as the northern harrier, the spotted turtle and the Coopers hawk and hosts several species of spring migrating birds and other shore birds. It is immediately adjacent to the Nature Conservancy's Andy Warhol Preserve and situated near other protected lands, such as Shadmoor, Montauk Point, Montauk Downs and Camp Hero state parks.
