State announces pine barrens land deal

New York environmental commissioner Joe Martens made his first official visit to Long Island Friday to announce the state's planned $5.07-million purchase of 99 wooded acres near the Carmans River.

The deal to buy the Middle Island property would preserve one of the largest privately owned swathes of land in the Long Island pine barrens' core preservation area. Development there is largely prohibited to protect the region's drinking water supply.

"What a great place to celebrate Earth Day," Martens said at a news conference against a backdrop of tall pines and oaks. "The state would have been absolutely crazy not to buy it."

Just west of Cathedral Pines County Park, the land is part of a swath of forest near the headwaters of the Carmans River. State officials said the property would be used for hiking and other passive recreational activities; the deal is expected to go through in about two months.

It almost didn't happen at all. Years in the making, the agreement was derailed in 2009, when then-Gov. David A. Paterson swept money from the state's Environmental Conservation Fund -- which pays for land acquisition and other conservation projects -- to help balance the budget amid the financial downturn.

"We're relieved," property owner Gene Smith of Yaphank said Friday, adding that he had been trying to sell the land to Suffolk County since 1991.

He and his wife, Patricia, said they would use the money to help set up a veterans service center at a former industrial site in Copiague.

Local politicians and conservation advocates credited Martens, appointed this year by new Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, with pushing the agreement through.

"Even against the backdrop of the most difficult budget year that we have seen, you helped bring this parcel into the public domain," said Assemb. Steven Englebright (D-Setauket).

The deal also came as something of a victory for Brookhaven Town Supervisor Mark Lesko, who set up a committee last year to come up with a plan to protect the Carmans River watershed. The Middle Island property, known as Gene's Four Seasons, is one of 27 properties targeted for public acquisition under that plan, which is now being considered by the Town of Brookhaven.

"Today is a major step forward when it comes to protecting the jewel and natural resource that is the Carmans River," Lesko said. "It sends a wonderful message to some of the naysayers who may say that the acquisition plan was unrealistic."