Environmentalists and lawmakers in Connecticut and New York have declared a major victory in a years-long fight to preserve Plum Island from development.
The federal government owns the island off Long Island’s North Fork. It’s been used for an animal disease research lab for 60 years. In 2008, they decided to move the lab to Kansas and sell Plum Island to the highest bidder.
The 2021 federal spending bill repealed laws that mandated the sale and opened it up to public conservation. Curt Johnson is with Save the Sound.
“The landslide has been bulldozed out of the way. We can see a conservation future, and we can imagine several different alternatives to how we get there,” Johnson said.
Lawmakers from both sides of Long Island Sound backed the move. The 840-acre island is home to hundreds of species of birds and several endangered species.
