4 Long Island state parks to share in $2M grants

Four Long Island parks were among those receiving a share of nearly $2 million in New York State grants distributed to 22 nonprofits to help support state parks, trails, historic sites and other public lands, the state announced last week.

Two state agencies, the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation and the Department of Environmental Conservation, and the nonprofit Parks & Trails New York announced that $1.7 million from the Park and Trail Partnership Grants program had been distributed "to support the stewardship of state parks, trails, historic sites and other public lands ... The grants support public-private partnerships for maintenance and beautification projects as well as educational programming and special events," the state agencies said in a news release.

The release added that "this tenth round of awards will be matched by more than $500,000 in private funds, exceeding the 10% the recipients are required to raise."

The Long Island nonprofits that won grants are the Friends of Orient Beach, the Caumsett Foundation in Lloyd Harbor, the Friends of Connetquot in Oakdale, and the Friends of Heckscher State Park in East Islip.

The Friends of Orient Beach received $180,000 to hire a "professional shoreline consultant" to make recommendations to address erosion of the beach. Foundation officials could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Caumsett Foundation Inc. was awarded $150,000 to establish a new executive director position.

Janet Barone, the foundation's president, said in an interview Thursday that the board was "grateful" to the state for providing the grant. "This is actually the foundation’s first paid employee," Barone said. "Up to now we were fully volunteer. We’ve grown by leaps and bounds and we need an executive director to guide us."

In a statement, Barone said the foundation has hired "Michael Gurtowski as the organization's first Executive Director, marking a significant milestone in the Foundation's history. This strategic move aims to expand the Foundation's capacity and broaden its impact on Caumsett State Historic Park Preserve."

The Friends of Connetquot got $25,760 "to research the Connetquot Riverbank Native American Community by exploring archaeological and historical records," the release said.

Janet Soley, that nonprofit's president, said in an interview that the grant will enable the organization to explore more fully and develop programming centered on the Indigenous communities.

Soley, said that after a hunting club completed the transfer of the land, which is now Connetquot River State Park Preserve, to New York State in 1973, the state "did an archaeological survey and found there were remnants of Indigenous communities on the grounds in several locations." She added "and now is the point where we have to finish telling the story."

Soley, said there were plans to conduct a new survey.

"The technology and information available has improved" since the 1970s. "We’re looking to spend $5,000 of that on another survey. The remaining money is going to go to our Montaukett historian and executive director, Sandi Brewster-walker. Sandi is going to be doing the research on the communities. With that information we’re going to be doing more displays" at the Connetquot River State Park Preserve, Soley, said. 

Friends of Heckscher State Park received $15,000 for start-up costs. The group was formed last year, said its president, Greg Hancock, in an interview. He said the grant "helps us with the all the start-up costs, obtaining insurance, working with a consultant to create a detailed 5-year plan ... and planning for the future."

By Olivia Winslow

olivia.winslow@newsday.com@newsollie