Dozens of new signs now mark location of Suffolk's central pine barrens

More than two dozen signs marking the central pine barrens in Suffolk County have been installed along roads in Brookhaven Town and the Village of Quogue.

The markers, funded by the state Central Pine Barrens Joint Planning and Policy Commission, were erected on state, county, town and village roads by Brookhaven highway crews to educate motorists about the protected forest land and clear up confusion about its boundaries, officials said.

The 18-inch-by-2-foot signs read: "You are entering the Central Pine Barrens: Long Island’s Largest Natural Area and Last Remaining Wilderness.”

Three signs went up in Quogue and 23  in Brookhaven communities such as Yaphank, Shoreham, Manorville and Ridge. Three more signs will be installed in Brookhaven, and  more later this year in Riverhead and Southampton towns.

The signs cost $5,000 total and were inspired by markers indicating upstate environmental landmarks such as Adirondack Park, the Catskills and the Hudson River estuary, pine barrens commission executive director John Pavacic said.

“The idea came from that, and also if you look at national parks, as well, they do the same thing," he said. "We wanted to get this sense of identity [and] really put the central pine barrens on the map and build a sense of place.”

The 106,000-acre pine barrens were established by a 1993 state law that sought to protect thousands of plant and animal species, some threatened or endangered, and the underlying aquifer from overdevelopment. Development is generally banned in roughly half the pine barrens and limited by strict standards in the other half.

Some residents over the years have expressed curiosity about where exactly the pine barrens begin and end, officials said. In some cases, homeowners weren't sure whether they lived within the area's borders.

“We thought it was important to delineate areas that are within the pine barrens,” Brookhaven Supervisor Edward P. Romaine said. “We thought it was important that particularly people in eastern Suffolk know where the pine barrens are, know the lands we consider pine barrens, so that it was clear to everyone, so thus the signs.”

Long Island Pine Barrens Society executive director Richard Amper said preservation of the pine barrens is a "success story" that deserves the recognition provided by the signs.

“The campaign to protect the pine barrens is going well, yet a lot of people don’t know how terrific it really is,” he said. “A lot of them have never been to the pine barrens themselves. Having spent all this money to protect this land, it makes sense to let people see where it is so they can enjoy it.”

By Carl MacGowan

carl.macgowan@newsday.comCarlMacGowan

Carl MacGowan is a Long Island native who covers Brookhaven Town after having previously covered Smithtown, Suffolk County courts and numerous spot news and feature stories over his 20-plus year career at Newsday.