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About the Web Site of the Fire Island Ecology

This site is dedicated to an informed discussion of the Fire Island environment. Although it will carry some editorial statements, we do not have a set position on all issues, and will often present a range of views.

Fire Island is a narrow barrier island located south of Long Island, east of New York City. Zoomable map. The Island is 32 miles long, separating Great South Bay from the Atlantic Ocean. It was built by a process of accretion over many centuries. The island is made (and constantly remade) of sands which naturally shift.

Most of Fire Island is part of a national park known as the Fire Island National Seashore, founded in 1964 and administered under the Department of Interior. FINS also includes 24 smaller islands and the William Floyd Estate on Long Island. (The west end of Fire Island, Robert Moses Park, is a New York State park.) Unlike other national parks, FINS has numerous human colonies, generally populated only from May through September. The environment is remarkably varied. In addition to beaches, there are marshes, uplands, and sub-aquatic areas. There are even a few wooded areas – notably the Sunken Forest, an area west of Cherry Grove where one can have a good look at a swale ecosystem. The Smith Point Visitor Center can be reached by the William Floyd parkway (which also serves the William Floyd Estate); otherwise the Seashore is accessible mainly by ferries (from Bay Shore, Sayville, or Patchogue). The eastern-most portion of the island is a county park. West of that is a wilderness area.

FIE promotes environmental protection, which we believe is essential to preserving the quality of life that most islanders want. While we are not absolutely opposed to development, we seek to prevent unreasonable development that causes the quality of life to deteriorate. For example, we deplore the fact that developers have been routinely violating building codes, resulting in unacceptable population densities and endangering the dunes that are sine qua non to the island's very existence.

The villages are here to stay, and that is fine. Contrary to what some say, to be pro-environment is not to be anti-community or anti-beach house. Still, it is also important not only to preserve the dunes (which some buildings endanger), but also the natural areas between the villages. FIE believes that it is important to protect endangered species, and all natural seaside flora which tend to hold the sand in place. Although we are not closed-minded, we are skeptical about massive plans to fight nature (such as the fantastically-expensive beach replenishment projects), of which any "benefit" is only temporary. We prefer such benign, low-tech solutions as properly-installed snow fences and reasonable restrictions on vehicular traffic. We must prevent the beaches from being turned into virtual highways.

While we do not agree with the National Park Service on all issues, we think that in general they do as good a job as they can given their starved budgets and hostile political environment. We regret the irresponsible attacks that have been launched against the NPS and its personnel (sometimes involving virtual character assassination); these are misguided in content and tactically foolish. We believe that the NPS tends to have the best approaches to problem-solving and usually deserves our cooperation. (For our views on these issues in more detail, see our Beach page.)

Because most of Fire Island (including all of the villages) is now a national park, the environment enjoys certain legal protections. But powerful forces are out to commercialize and "civilize" it, law or no law. Citing the needs of "homeland security," the county police demand the right to drive anywhere, regardless of how much damage is inflicted. Those unsympathetic with preserving the environment work closely with higher authorities and friendly politicians, while battling the National Park Service. They will win unless those who care mobilize. (The birth of FIE was inspired in 1998 by the attack launched by various property and commercial groups, led by the Fire Island Association, against the National Park Service. They were subsequently joined by an organization called BEACH. On this controversy, see our NPS and backlash pages.)

But history has a way of vindicating environmentalists. When President Jimmy Carter signed the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (declaring 105 million acres as national parks, wildlife refuges, and wilderness) he was almost universally loathed by Alaskans. But had he not done so, the resources would now be largely exhausted, and tourism would not be the annual billion dollar industry it is today. Whereas it once was not safe for Carter to enter Alaska (except military bases), he is now hailed throughout the state as a hero. Even political leaders who once fought him now admit that what he did was right.

Some day people will shake their heads in wonderment at the short-sightedness of some of today's Fire Island community leaders.

Updated 11 Aug 2005