Effort to preserve Plum Island gets boost in fed budget, environmentalists say

The ecologically sensitive Plum Island could be one step closer to conservation because of language in the newly-passed federal omnibus budget that requires government agencies to communicate about steps to potentially save the land from development, environmental advocates say.

The spending package expresses “support for the permanent conservation of Plum Island” to protect its natural and cultural resources.

It also calls for a meeting between the U.S. departments of the Interior and Homeland Security, along with the General Services Administration, so the agencies can discuss what's needed to preserve the island.

Louise Harrison with Save the Sound nonprofit said Monday the language was key because it could improve and speed up the chances of protecting Plum Island.

“When Congress says ‘Please, talk, find the answers to your questions,’ it’s going to accelerate the communication and bring in the answers that we need in order to move Plum Island into preservation,” said Harrison, the Connecticut-based nonprofit's Long Island natural areas manager.

She added that environmental groups “have never been closer” to their goal of permanently conserving the island after a fight that has lasted more than a decade.

Located off the coast of Southold, the 3-mile-long and 1-mile-wide island is home to species such as piping plovers — endangered in New York — and roughly 228 other bird species, while hosting hundreds of harbor and gray seals each winter. The presence of 111 species that environmental advocates list as important to conserve also has been documented.

The island also houses the Plum Island Animal Disease Center, where animal disease vaccines have been developed since 1954 and which Homeland Security has proposed shuttering.

Laws passed in 2008 and 2011 mandated the island’s sale. In 2013, businessman and now-former President Donald Trump inquired about potentially building a golf course there.

But Plum Island was taken off the auction block in December 2020 under provisions of the 2021 federal spending bill.

However, Harrison said, the island could be put up for sale again if no agency or municipality willing or able to manage it is found.

For that reason, communication between the three federal agencies mentioned in the budget language could help finalize the process necessary to keep it preserved, according to the environmental advocate.

The language directs those agencies to provide a briefing to congressional committees on topics including: 

• options for permanent ownership of Plum Island — including management of and partnerships with state, federal and tribal entities
• the possibility of interim ecological management, and 
• potential costs of managing the island.

Interior Department officials declined to comment Monday. Homeland Security and General Services Administration officials didn't return requests for comment.

Elected officials including U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) have joined environmentalists in praising the budget language.

“Permanently conserving this national treasure would ensure that the ecological and biological diversity of Plum Island is celebrated for generations to come,” Gillibrand said.

Bob DeLuca, who leads the nonprofit Group for the East End, said the measure “demonstrates that the preservation of Plum Island is truly within reach."