Dear Friend,
On December 15, the Peconic Land Trust hosted a virtual presentation titled “Restoring the Health of Sagg Pond” by Dr. Chris Gobler, Stony Brook University’s Endowed Chair of Coastal Ecology and Conservation. This presentation was for residents living within the Sagg Pond Watershed.
For those who missed the conversation, please click on the following link to view
the Zoom presentation.
Please help us spread the word by sharing this presentation with your friends and neighbors!
Attendees learned about Chris’s preliminary findings regarding the health of Sagg Pond. This study was launched in 2019 to understand the root causes of hazardous blue-green algal blooms in the pond and was underwritten by $224,000 of private funds from Sagg Pond neighbors. Southampton Town/ Town Trustees have committed an additional $112,000 to this research. Chris’s work, and additional research to be conducted in 2021 by Ron Paulsen of Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE), will inform the preparation of a Sagg Pond Revitalization/ Management Plan by the Southampton Town Trustees.
Above all we learned that everyone in the watershed has a role to play as we work together towards a healthier, safer Sagg Pond!
The Peconic Land Trust is privileged to be playing a coordination role toward the revitalization of Sagg Pond thanks to a $100,000 grant over 2 years from the Joyce & Irving Goldman Family Foundation. Other donors have contributed $30,000 as a match to date. Since there is much more to be done, including research, restoration and remediation measures, we collectively need to raise more private funds from more people within the watershed that can be matched with public funds. The Trust has set up the Sagg Pond Restoration Fund for this purpose.
Our goal is to raise $120,000 by January 30th, 2021. These funds will complete our match of the Goldman grant ($70,000) and underwrite 50% of the CCE research ($50,000), the balance of which we hope will be matched by our public partners (e.g. Southampton Town/Town Trustees). Your support is needed to fund this important work.
Please go to the link below to make your gift to the Sagg Pond Restoration Fund. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to
contact me or
Bruce Horwith who is coordinating this Sagg Pond initiative.