By Scott Brinton
It's sunny with a slight breeze moving through the abundant oaks and maples found in all directions. Mary Ramo, president of the North Merrick Civic Association, and Susan Bruno of Bellmore, a self-described soccer mom/concerned citizen, have accompanied Young to inspect the woodland.
As Young strides along, he notes the absence of trash, which only two months ago was scattered throughout the forest and especially along the lake's shoreline.
Last spring, Young started speaking out about the woodland's deteriorated state in a multi-part Herald series. After years of neglect, the primarily state-owned property had fallen prey to vandals who dumped trash and set fires there; teenagers who held keg parties; and dirt bikers who tore up its numerous walking paths.
In late July, New York State Sen. Charles Fuschillo Jr. (R-Merrick) and Assemblyman David McDonough (R-North Merrick) responded to Young's pleas for help at the woodland, which the activist would like opened to the public as a nature preserve. Right now, the property is closed, though trespassing there is common.
Working with the New York State Parks Department, Fuschillo and McDonough organized a volunteer cleanup on July 20. An estimated 170 people turned out for the effort and swept clean much of the woodland, which was littered with hundreds, even thousands of bottles, cans, car tires and other assorted garbage, including contractor waste.
This past week, Young was pleased to show Ramo, Bruno and the Herald that the volunteer cleanup was a worthwhile effort; that the property remains relatively litter-free, except for the occasional candy wrapper or soda can, which the three picked up and carried out with them.
Subhead: Where hope lies
The July cleanup gave Young hope that the woodland could, in the near future, become a park/preserve for walking, bicycling and fishing. The nature preserve, he noted, could be connected to a significantly wider park running from the Town of Hempstead's Norman J. Levy Preserve in south Merrick, through the forests along the Meadowbrook Parkway east of Old Lindenmere and as far north as East Meadow. Such a park could span upward of a 1,000 acres.
"I'm pretty optimistic," said Young. "I think that's something that could happen. That's really the goal" -- to create a park.
Young is actively pursuing that goal.
He recently formed the Friends of the Meadowbrook Preserve, a group of 20 volunteers who are willing to maintain the property long-term. This past Friday, Young met with state Parks Department representatives to discuss formation of the friends group at the woodland. (The Parks Department owns most of the property; the state Department of Transportation is supposed to maintain it.)
Young also serves as co-chairman of the local America the Beautiful campaign, which formed at the urging of Nassau County Legis. David Denenberg (D-Merrick)this past year. America the Beautiful is now organizing a volunteer cleanup for Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 19 and 20 at the Meadowbrook preserve and nine other sites from Freeport to Seaford, including the woodlands along the Meadowbrook Parkway in North Merrick.
Young will again receive support from Sen. Fuschillo and Assemblyman McDonough, who are spearheading the cleanup at the Meadowbrook preserve, which is to take place Oct. 19 from 9 a.m. to noon. (See shaded box for further details.)
Young noted that the Freeport side of the Meadowbrook preserve suffers terrible environmental damage, primarily from widespread dumping, which he hopes will be addressed during the October cleanup.
Michael Arens, Fuschillo's chief of staff, said, "The senator and assemblyman are very eager to continue the success and progress of the last cleanup that gathered more than 150 people ... and made a permanent impact on restoring the natural environment in our community.
Sen. Fuschillo "is hoping everyone and then some comes out again for Oct. 19."
Young hopes such cleanups generate enough local interest in, and political support for, creation of a parks and preserves network along the Meadowbrook.
Young's dream might very well become a reality.
County Legislators Denenberg and Norma Gonsalves (R-East Meadow) have crossed party lines and together formed a study group to develop plans for such a park. The team includes state, county and town representatives.
"We're trying to formulate an overall management plan" for the parkway woodlands, said Denenberg. "I'm working with Bob Young and state people to make sure this whole corridor [the woodlands along the Meadowbrook] becomes a park. Period."
Gonsalves said the management plan "really, really, truly is moving along."
The study group, which includes representatives from the state Parks Department, Department of Transportation and Department of Environmental Conservation, has met three times since June, including as recently as Sept. 9. Its next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 15 at the Brookside School in North Merrick, during which Gonsalves, Denenberg and North Bellmore environmental activist Richard Schary are to lead a tour of the woodlands behind Brookside.
Gonsalves said the study group is now working to develop rules and regulations for the possible park as well as enforcement procedures there. The legislator noted that the group is considering creation of a park not only along the Meadowbrook, but also in the woodlands that line the Wantagh Parkway.
Gonsalves hopes to have the management plan developed within six months. To do so, however, the study team might have to begin meeting twice monthly, the legislator said. Once ready, the plan will be made public, likely during a hearing at which the study group will accept residents' comments about the proposal.
Drophead: Myriad challenges
Developing the management plan indeed represents a complex, even daunting task.
Maintaining the woodlands is of obvious importance, Young said. As part of that, security issues must be factored in. The woodlands are now, in many ways, more wild lands than nature preserves, according to Young and Schary, who serves on the Nassau County Open Space Committee as well as the study group.
During a tour last Thursday of the woodlands behind the Brookside School, just south of the Southern State Parkway, Schary showed the Herald the environmental damage that teenagers continue to cause there.
The Herald first toured the property with Schary last spring. Since, the forest has only fallen further into dire straits.
The woodland is a hot spot for young people to party on Friday nights. Their fire pits are found throughout the property, with hundreds of beer cans and blue plastic cups strewn about. Mixed amid the cups and cans are empty hard-liquor bottles and plastic bags, which likely are used to carry drugs.
Schary, who gave the Herald's recent tour with his wife Lisa, also an environmentalist, noted that the teenagers have chopped down trees with axes. They use the fallen trees as benches.
He also noted that they recently burned down a section of the woodland beside one fire pit. If not for the quick response of the North Merrick Fire Department, the entire forest could have easily gone up in flames, especially considering how dry the trees and underbrush were during this past summer's drought, said Lisa Schary.
The fire smoldered underground and kept igniting for several days, said the Scharys. Each time it flamed up, the North Merrick Fire Department had to return, carrying in their gear, as there was no access for fire trucks, the couple said.
The Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District recently bulldozed down a BMX biker's course that young people had developed on grounds of the Brookside School, which borders the woodland. Barring that, not much else has happened to save the forest since last spring, Richard Schary said.
In fact, BMX stunt bikers continue to ride at the property just beyond the Brookside School, leaving only dirt mounds where once there stood trees and bushes.
Just to the north, off Richmond Road in East Meadow, Schary showed where ATVers have ripped a trail through the forest and a dried-out streambed. He pointed out where a sewage drain that runs underneath the Meadowbrook Parkway had collapsed because of erosion along the streambed. The drain, he noted, is open to children, who might climb in and become trapped, perhaps even killed.
To the south, in the woodland behind Old Lindenmere, homeless people, likely day laborers working out of Freeport, have set up a maze of hastily-fashioned shelters. Young showed the Herald, Ramo and Bruno the encampment during a tour of the property last week.
Young would like to see the homeless people receive social services. He is also concerned about safety issues such homeless encampments raise. Young first uncovered the camp during a hike last spring. When discovered, the homeless people burned down their shelters and moved farther south into the woodland, in a secluded corner beside a swamp. Young noted that, as with the partying teenagers, their fire could have quickly set the surrounding woodland ablaze.
Bruno described the homeless people's living conditions, exposed to the elements and possible West Nile virus-carrying mosquitoes in the swamp, as "horrifying."
"Are there so little services that they're forced to live like this?" Bruno asked.
Despite the myriad of challenges to developing a preserve/park along the Meadowbrook, Young remains hopeful. As he was walking into the forest behind Old Lindenmere, he stopped for a moment, his large brown eyes scanning the lush woods before him. Beyond the path, beyond where humans have touched, there was only nature.
"Look at how nice these woods are," said Young. "It's pristine."
"It's the way it was when I was growing up," remarked Ramo.
How to volunteer for October's cleanup
New York State is planning a volunteer cleanup of the Merrick reservoir woodland off Babylon Turnpike on Saturday, Oct. 19 from 9 a.m. to noon.
Volunteers are to meet at the Long Island Rail Road parking lot on Bedford Avenue, Merrick just west of Broadcast Plaza. From there, they will be shuttled by Long Island Bus to the cleanup site.
The state will provide gloves, trash bags, picks and water. Volunteers should wear long-sleeved clothing and heavy-duty shoes or boots.
For more information, call state Sen. Charles Fuschillo Jr.'s district office at (516) 546-4100.
Also that weekend, the America the Beautiful campaign is planning a 10-site cleanup in the Merricks, Bellmores, Freeport, Wantagh and Seaford on Oct. 19 and 20. Among the sites that America the Beautiful will target is the Merrick reservoir.
Other sites include: Cow Meadow Park in Freeport, Freeport Harbor, North Merrick Creek, Island Creek, Seamans' Creek, the Wantagh wetlands, Roosevelt Preserve, Seamans' Neck Park and Twin Lakes in Wantagh.
For more information or to volunteer, call the campaign at (516) 409-8524, or write to: America the Beautiful, P.O. Box 1256, Bellmore, NY 11710.
And, on Oct. 20, North Bellmore environmentalist Richard Schary, a Long Island Greenbelt Trail Conference board member, is planning a hike starting at Mill Pond Park in Bellmore and heading north to the Twin Lakes Preserve in Wantagh.
The idea behind the walk, which is sponsored by the Greenbelt Trail Conference, is to raise awareness of the woodlands throughout the Bellmore-Merrick area. To get involved, call Schary at (516) 826-8339.
