Several members of the Shoregate project team, along with TRITEC employees, joined Seatuck Environmental Association for their Earth Day Workday event to safeguard the natural restoration of the West Brook and remove the invasive phragmites in the area. Seatuck is based in Islip, 10 minutes from Shoregate, but works Island-wide to protect and preserve wildlife and the environment.
The only dam on West Brook, a major tributary of the Connetquot River, failed in 2019 and allowed the artificial pond behind it to drain. For the first time in over 100 years, the brook could once again flow naturally from its headwaters in Bayard Cutting Arboretum State Park down to the tidal reaches of the Great South Bay. With the pond gone, the brook found its former channel and an amazing natural restoration has taken hold along its banks – seeds long dormant under the pond have sprouted into a freshwater meadow dominated by native plants. These plants will not survive unless organizations like Seatuck remove the invasive species threatening its burgeoning ecosystem.
West Brook is now one of only a few free-flowing streams on Long Island. It has great ecological potential as a place where migratory fish can return and other native riverine species can once again find a home. Find out more about Seatuck by visiting their website: www.seatuck.org
