Areas at 2 LI wildlife refuges will reopen next week
A visitor looks for wildlife near the beach at the Elizabeth A. Morton National Wildlife Refuge in Sag Harbor in 2019. Credit: Linda Rosier
Areas at two Long Island national wildlife refuges, closed since the spring due to threatened nesting shorebirds, will reopen next week, it was announced Friday.
The beach closure at the Amagansett National Wildlife Refuge in East Hampton will reopen Monday, while the closure at the Elizabeth A. Morton National Wildlife Refuge in Sag Harbor will reopen Wednesday, officials said.
Both are part of the Long Island National Wildlife Refuge Complex, which encompasses 6,670 acres and includes seven national wildlife refuges, two refuge subunits and one wildlife management area.
The complex was established to conserve habitat for migratory birds, as well as protect threatened and endangered species and provide and restore habitat for native flora and fauna, and is part of the national system, which includes 567 wildlife refuges throughout the United States and U.S. territories, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said.
The closure at the site in Sag Harbor was done to provide nesting for one pair of piping plovers and one pair of American oystercatchers, officials said, while the closure in Amagansett was done to provide nesting for one pair of least terns. Officials said all of the pairs were "unsuccessful" and suffered chick loss — mostly due to both avian and mammalian predators, as well as flooding, officials said.
Other migratory birds using the beaches included ospreys, willets, ruddy turnstones, common terns, black-bellied plovers, sanderlings, herons and egrets, officials said.
For more information about the refuge complex, call 631-286-0485 or visit the website at fws.gov/northeast/longislandrefuges/.
John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”
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Newsday Live Music Series: Long Island Idols Newsday Live presents a special evening of music and conversation with local singers who grabbed the national spotlight on shows like "The Voice," "America's Got Talent,""The X-Factor" and "American Idol." Newsday Senior Lifestyle Host Elisa DiStefano leads a discussion and audience Q&A as the singers discuss their TV experiences, careers and perform original songs.
