Protecting important bird habitat in Staten Island

Story and photos by Yigal Gelb

On a nice sunny September morning Clark Wallace, Project Manager for the Trust for Public Land, his assistant, Kim Musler, and I made our way over to the western part of Staten Island. Our goal was to survey several land parcels with the intention of nominating them to New York – New Jersey Harbor Estuary Program's list of Priority Acquisition Sites.

The sites were already included in Peter Blanchard, Paul Kerlinger, and Mark Stein's "An Islanded Nature" – a document detailing the remaining natural areas in the western part of the island.

Walking through wetlands covered with green beds of spartina (cordgrass), we came across foraging great egrets and a green heron in the beautiful 40-acre parcel of "Sharrotts Road Shorelands." The need for nominating these and other sites was made palpable by a large housing development in "Kreisher's Cove," which was being built at the time of our visit.

The 40-acre “Outerbridge Shorelands” included a shoreline with a secluded sandy beach and a large meadow. All three parcels surveyed were added to the HEP Priority List at a Habitat Workgroup meeting later that month. The next step is finding the funds to acquire these sites

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