Envirothon emphasizes damage in forests

Call it a tale of two forests.

On the west side of the Meadowbrook Parkway, on the outskirts of Freeport and Roosevelt, there is the 73-acre Roosevelt Preserve, owned and maintained by Nassau County. There, the wide paths are clear of fallen trees and shrubbery and virtually trash-free. There is no evidence of campfires having burned down swaths of the woods, nor is there graffiti marring the abundant oaks and maples.

Then there is the forest on the east side of the parkway, surrounded by Merrick and North Merrick. There, a series of unmaintained trails is often blocked by fallen trees and overgrown shrubbery. Vandals have spray-painted graffiti on hundreds of trees. And partying teenagers have left their campfires unattended at night. At times, the fires have flared up and burned down small sections of the woods.

The east side is something of a lawless place, owned mostly by the New York State Department of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, but also, at various points, by the county and the Town of Hempstead.

The difference between the two forests became clear during a three-hour Envirothon last Saturday, aimed at increasing awareness of the dire condition into which the woodlands on the east side of the Meadowbrook have fallen after years of neglect and abuse.

The Nassau County Unprotected Woodlands Taskforce, headed by county Legislators Norma Gonsalves, a Republican from East Meadow, and David Denenberg, a Democrat from Merrick, was formed in 2002 for the purpose of cleaning up and preserve the Meadowbrook Parkway woodlands.

Brian Schneider of Merrick, a hydrogeologist for the county Department of Public Works and a task force member, said the state parks department has, for some time, had a memorandum of understanding that was drafted between the county and state in which the parks department — if it signed the agreement — would commit to maintain and preserve the woodlands on the Meadowbrook Parkway’s east side as a passive recreation area where hiking and mountain-biking would be allowed. But, Schneider noted, the state has yet to sign the memorandum.

“It’s very frustrating,” he said.