Stranded sea creatures? Better park access? State grants to help with that on LI

From training parks staff on how to respond to stranded sea creatures to improving park walkability, four Long Island nonprofits will use about $200,000 in new state grants to push forward key initiatives.

The grants are part of $1.8 million in funding New York State awarded to about 30 nonprofits statewide to improve parks, trails, historic sites and other public lands, Gov. Kathy Hochul's office recently announced.

The Hampton Bays-based Atlantic Marine Conservation Society received $26,154. The organization gets about 150 to 200 calls a year to assist in the rescue of sea animals that include seals, turtles and humpback whales that strand onshore on Long Island and in parts of New York City.

Robert A. DiGiovanni, Jr., the nonprofit's founder and chief scientist, said the group will use its funding to launch training for New York State parks staff, lifeguards and educators on how to properly respond to both live and dead marine life that washes ashore.

“By engaging the park employees and letting them know, they will also engage the public when they come there so they realize that there is a marine environment here where they can see dolphins or other animals in the Long Island Sound,” DiGiovanni said. “That’s usually an eye-opener to the public.”

Oyster Bay-based Planting Fields Foundation received $108,129.

Gina Wouters, president and CEO of Planting Fields Foundation, said the funding will help the group renovate Planting Fields Arboretum State Historic Park in Oyster Bay to make it more walkable and accessible for people with physical disabilities.

Increasing accessibility can improve visitors’ safety and potentially attract more than the 200,000 annual visitors the park already gets, Wouters added.

The Lloyd Harbor nonprofit Caumsett Foundation, Inc. received $55,000 for a feasibility study at Caumsett State Historic Park Preserve that will restore two paths with safety issues, improve native ecological communities and establish an educational viewing site.

The newly-formed Friends of Jones Beach group received $10,025.

Nonprofit president Michael Deering said it would be seed money to help with grant writing and website development so the organization can grow and "make significant contributions to help beautify and improve Jones Beach State Park.”