South Shore Estuary News: News from the South Shore Estuary Reserve Office

News from the South Shore Estuary Reserve Office

by Jeffrey D. Fullmer, SSER Office Director

SSER office staff Lenora Daniel and Alan Svoboda.

In early 2003, the South Shore Estuary Reserve (SSER) Office was fortunate to add the talents and energy of two new staff members who will be focused on watershed planning issues, estuary education, and stewardship initiatives. Alan Svoboda, SSER Land Use Specialist comes to the Office as the former Director of Planning for the Town of Islip. Alan's knowledge of local government and expertise in planning issues enable the Office to move forward with our partners to address Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP) implementation priorities including protecting and restoring water quality in the Reserve, and the development of a new SSER Bayway. Lenora Daniel, SSER Education and Outreach Coordinator comes to the Office as the former Project Coordinator for the Sportfishing Education Center in Babylon. Lenora's expertise in hands-on education programs and skills in coordinating the activities of estuary stakeholders will advance the CMP's priorities of heightening public awareness about the estuary's resources and promoting individual and group stewardship actions. Both Alan and Lenora are very excited about working closely with all of our partners to advance implementation of the CMP.

From its establishment, the Office has been busy promoting CMP implementation and working to coordinate and assist the activities of a wide variety of implementation partners throughout the Reserve. Office staff have been meeting with partners the estuary including local governments, non-profit organizations, members of the SSER Council's Citizens Advisory Committee, and others to help document their accomplishments since plan adoption in 2001, and to identify their plan implementation priorities for the next two years.

Since strong partnerships are key to future success, it follows that those who are focused on estuary restoration and promoting stewardship should be recognized for their efforts. SSER Council Chair Randy A. Daniels did just that by recognizing the examples of five non-profit organizations that are working to protect and restore the estuary's valuable resources. The groups and their efforts are as follows:

The Nature Conservancy for its work to lead a coalition of stakeholders to develop a multi-use management plan for an 11,500 acre parcel of bottomlands in Great South Bay.

Citizens Campaign for the Environment for its programs to promote coastal water protection and education throughout the estuary and helping to develop the next generation of environmental stewards.

Ducks Unlimited for its partnership building for wetlands restoration efforts in the SSER that enhance and protect critical habitats for numerous estuarine species.

Operation SPLASH for its work to educate the public about the impact of pollution of the SSER and its hands-on efforts to clean up estuary waters in the Hempstead Bays.

Post-Morrow Foundation for its efforts to acquire, protect and restore sensitive lands along Beaver Dam Creek and other important SSER tributaries.

The Office salutes the examples set by the work of these groups and looks forward to continuing and expanding these partnerships.

Looking ahead, the Office is in the initial stages of upgrading and improving the Council's website. A new Educational Resources Directory has been added and will continually be updated to provide information about providers of SSER related educational materials for use by both formal educators and the public. Plans are also in the works to create an interactive map of the estuary that will be built to provide users with a wealth of information including natural area access sites, CMP water quality improvement project locations and other interesting and useful information for implementation partners and the public. As always, the Office welcomes comments from newsletter readers and invites our partners to stop by to say hello when on the "Nautical Mile" in the Freeport Maritime Center.