© 2025 Connecticut Public

FCC Public Inspection Files:
WEDH · WEDN · WEDW · WEDY
WEDW-FM · WNPR · WPKT · WRLI-FM
Public Files Contact · ATSC 3.0 FAQ
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Conservationists hail major victory in a decade-plus effort to preserve Plum Island

Plum Island Light is located on the western end of Plum Island, at the end of the North Fork of Long Island. An historic granite lighthouse originally built in 1869 sits at the site, but no longer serves as an active aid to navigation. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011.
DepthofField
/
Getty Images
Plum Island Light is on the western end of Plum Island, at the end of the North Fork of Long Island. An historical granite lighthouse originally built in 1869 sits at the site but no longer serves as an active aid to navigation. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011.

An effort to preserve a tiny island off the tip of Long Island got a major boost in the recently passed federal omnibus spending bill.

Language in a tiny portion of that $1.7 trillion spending package directs multiple federal agencies to brief Congress on potential costs for conserving and managing Plum Island.

“It’s to bring all the parties together to discuss in the open what’s required to move the island toward preservation,” said Louise Harrison with the advocacy group Save the Sound.

The 840-acre Plum Island is located about 1.5 miles off Orient Point. It’s owned by the federal government. For decades, it hosted a high-security government research lab.

That lab will close and its operations move to Kansas in the coming years. But the island’s isolation from major development has made it an ecological gold mine – providing key habitat for birds, seals, fish and coral.

The island is home to many historic buildings – including the National Register of Historic Places Plum Island Lighthouse and Fort Terry army barracks and weapons batteries.

The island also is highly valued by the Montaukett Indian Nation as part of its cultural heritage.

“This is a very important move towards the preservation and conservation of Plum Island, as well as the protection of the Montaukett people’s cultural heritage,” Sandi Brewster-walker, executive director and government affairs officer for the Montaukett Indian Nation, said in a statement.

Harrison said conservationists have worked for more than a decade to block major development on the island. She hopes the request by Congress will accelerate island preservation efforts.

“I think it sort of wraps it all together in a nice package. Puts a bow on it and says, ‘OK, we’re talking about this now. And we’re serious,’” Harrison said.

Harrison hopes the bill will pull together key information from multiple federal agencies. She hopes that information can be used to achieve conservationists’ major goal for the island: making it a National Monument, protecting the area from future development or sale.

Patrick Skahill is the assistant director of news and talk shows at Connecticut Public. He was the founding producer of Connecticut Public Radio's The Colin McEnroe Show and a science and environment reporter for more than eight years.

Federal funding is gone.

Congress has eliminated all funding for public media.

That means $2.1 million per year that Connecticut Public relied on to deliver you news, information, and entertainment programs you enjoyed is gone.

The future of public media is in your hands.

All donations are appreciated, but we ask in this moment you consider starting a monthly gift as a Sustainer to help replace what’s been lost.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT is an initiative from Connecticut Public, the state’s local NPR and PBS station, to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities. Visit CTPublic.org/latino for more stories and resources. For updates, sign up for the SOMOS CONNECTICUT newsletter at ctpublic.org/newsletters.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

Federal funding is gone.

Congress has eliminated all funding for public media.

That means $2.1 million per year that Connecticut Public relied on to deliver you news, information, and entertainment programs you enjoyed is gone.

The future of public media is in your hands.

All donations are appreciated, but we ask in this moment you consider starting a monthly gift as a Sustainer to help replace what’s been lost.

Related Content
Connecticut Public’s journalism is made possible, in part by funding from Jeffrey Hoffman and Robert Jaeger.