By Scott Brinton
The featured guests were not the very important people in attendance, but rather a pair of muddy brown Eastern box turtles and a bright orange monarch butterfly.
Nassau County legislators David Denenberg, a Democrat from Merrick, and Norma Gonsalves, a Republican from East Meadow, convened the conference on July 15 at the entrance to Nassau Community College's nature sanctuary to announce plans for the county's first-ever BioBlitz.
A BioBlitz is a 24-hour treasure hunt, led by biologists and environmentalists, to catalog the flora and fauna found in a designated swath of nature. Volunteers - from scouts to students to amateur naturalists - do much of the searching, aided by the scientists. The county is spearheading the BioBlitz in the woodlands along the Meadowbrook Parkway to showcase the area's ecological value, Denenberg said as he held one of the box turtles, which are native to the forests.
Denenberg explained that the county is hoping to convince the state Department of Parks and Recreation to preserve the woodlands by proving that they are critical natural habitats that may even be home to endangered species. The parks department, which owns most of the woodlands, does not currently offer any special protections for the forests.
Denenberg and Gonsalves have worked since 2002 to have the woodlands preserved in perpetuity. To date, however, the state has refused to sign off on a county management plan for the area.
"We hope they hear us loud and clear in Albany," Denenberg said.
Gonsalves added, "We have tried for many, many years to get the state to sign on ... We have such precious resources along the Meadowbrook Parkway ... We will not stop until our voices are heard many miles away in Albany."
Dr. Ray Ann Havasy, of the Center for Science Teaching and Learning at Tanglewood Preserve, is heading the county's BioBlitz committee. She said the event will begin with an orientation for volunteers at 6:30 p.m. at Hofstra University on Sept. 19, and run for 24 hours. Hofstra will serve as the hub, where data will be collected and collated.
Dr. Russell Burke of Bellmore, a Hofstra biologist and a member of the BioBlitz committee, was also on hand for the news conference. Burke pointed out a monarch butterfly that flitted past his microphone on its way to the nature preserve behind him. The monarchs are among the many migratory species that depend on natural habitats like the Meadowbrook Parkway woodlands. In two weeks, Burke said, the butterflies would begin the long journey back to their breeding ground in Mexico.
Betsy Gulotta, a Nassau Community College professor from Merrick, noted that the college's nature preserve represents the last vestiges of the Hempstead Plains, the fields of tall grass and wildflowers that once covered what is now central Nassau County. When colonists first landed on Long Island in the early 1600s, the plains measured 60,000 acres. Only 45 acres are left, divided into two parcels - 19 acres at Nassau Community College and 26 next to the Uniondale Marriott.
The BioBlitz will take place at three sites: the college's nature preserve, the county-owned Roosevelt Preserve and the wetlands around the Norman J. Levy Preserve in Merrick.
For more information about the BioBlitz, go to meadowbrookbioblitz.org. To volunteer or to make a donation, call Havasy at (516) 764-0045 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Comments about this story? SBrinton@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 203.
