Sensitive Woodland Preserved in Southold

We have some good news to share! At the end of April – thanks to the support of over 25 neighbors – the Peconic Land Trust acquired a small but ecologically important parcel along a native forest corridor on Soundview Avenue in Southold. 

The new Soundview Avenue Preserve was acquired from Edith Cosban-Iserman. The conservation was inspired by a neighbor group, with a steering committee who’s dedication and boundless energy saw this to completion: Isabelle Kanz, Cassie Kanz, Louise Harrison, Andy Duffy and Mike Dukmejian. 

“It was such a pleasure to work with a group of residents willing to collaborate on the hard work of research and fund raising in the shared goal of conservation,” said Peconic Land Trust Project Manager Holly Sanford. “Their community effort enabled the Trust to acquire and protect this land.”

The woodlands in the corridor are home to a variety of plant species, including native wildflowers and Jack-in-the-pulpit as well as grasses, mosses and shrubs.

“This parcel isn’t large, but it hosts a small freshwater wetland in a critically important forest corridor,” explains community member, donor, and conservation biologist Louise Harrison. “The corridor occupies an ancient dune system stretching east from Peconic on both sides of Soundview Avenue, through three protected areas - Goldsmith Inlet, Soundview Dunes, and Peconic Dunes County Parks. Within this system, interdunal blowout areas have become vernal pools, sphagnum bogs, shrub swamps, and red maple swamps, depending on elevation and exposure. The higher elevations host native forest communities and transitional zones anchoring deep, sandy soils. The overall ecosystem of the naturally forested dune crests and troughs is unique in Southold and deserves further protection.”

Want to learn more? Reach out to Holly Sanford, Project Manager or Amanda Abraham, Director of Development.

Read the full press release here.