PecoNicBayKeeper.org
Title
Peconic Baykeeper - Patrolling the South Shore and Peconic bays
Description
About Peconic Baykeeper
Peconic Baykeeper is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to protect and improve the aquatic ecosystems of the Peconic and South Shore estuaries of Long Island. This mission is advanced through conservation and management initiatives, public education, research, monitoring and participation in the public environmental review of projects and activities that may adversely impact the ecological health of the estuarine waters. Additional activities may include plaintiff litigation where the violations of laws protecting water quality and estuarine habitats adversely impact these natural resources. Peconic Baykeeper became the 19th keeper program to be sanctioned by Waterkeeper Alliance iin November, 1997.
The Peconic Estuary and its watershed have been identified by The Nature Conservancy as one of the "last great places" in the western hemisphere due to the diversity of underwater and coastal habitats supporting a variety of marine life, birds and other wildlife. The estuary, located betwen Long Island's north and south forks, has historically been one of the most productive estuaries on the eastern seaboard. Comprised of over 100 distinct bays, harbors, embayments and tributaries that cover approximately 120,000 acres of surface water area, the estuary also features over 3,600 acres of tidal wetlands and 245 linear miles of meandering shoreline. The contributing watershed, the area of land that drains into the Peconic system, encompasses approximately 110,000 acres from the highest points along eastern Long Island.
as one of 28 estuaries in the National Estuary Program (NEP). The NEP was established by the Clean Water Act through congressional action in 1987 to preserve and protect nationally significant estuaries that are threatened by pollution, development and overuse.
