The Peconic Estuary Awarded $200,000 In Funding

New York State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele praised Governor Cuomo for the inclusion of $200,000 in the 2017 Executive Budget.

“With the proposed state funding for the Peconic Estuary, the total funding from federal, state and county sources for 2017 would total about $1 million,” explained Assemblyman Thiele. “With changes to the Peconic Bay Region Community Preservation Fund, the five East End Towns can use the CPF to match these funds dollar for dollar and double the level of funding.”

The Peconic Estuary has been called one of the “Last Great Places in the western hemisphere” by the Nature Conservancy. This Estuary is situated between the North and South Forks of Long Island. It encompasses more than 125,000 land acres and 158,000 surface water acres.

Assemblyman Thiele sponsored legislation which nominated the Peconic Estuary for inclusion in the National Estuary Program. In 1993, the Peconic Estuary became the 20th estuary in the nation to receive the designation as an “Estuary of National Significance” by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). As of today, there are 28 estuaries in this program.

The Peconic Estuary Program (PEP) is an innovative partnership of local, state, and federal governments, citizen, and environmental groups, businesses and industries, and academic institutions.

“With this partnership, the Peconic Estuary Program will be poised to aggressively pursue a strategy to improve water quality, habitat and productivity in the estuary,” he added. “This is a turning point for our bays. I thank the Governor for the inclusion of these funds. I am confident these funds will be included in the Budget to be approved by April 1, 2017.”

For more information, call 631-852-5750 or visit www.peconicestuary.org.