Earth Awareness at Pattersquash Creek

Frank DeNatale

A crew organized by the Pattersquash Creek Civic Association takes a break from planting trees along the creek in a conservation effort designed to shore up the coastline and protect the water that flows into Moriches Bay. With a $3,000 grant from the Nature Conservancy and support from Save Great South Bay and the Mastic Beach Conservancy, the association's planting of native trees was cheered on by Senator Dean Murray, Legislator Jim Mazzarella and Dan Panico, the Brookhaven councilman for the South Shore peninsula.

"It was a dream team of members and supporters who made the effort a success," said civic President Frank Fugarino, who noted that the crew also removed invasive plants from the area which was assigned to them by the town so they can act as environmental stewards. Deer fencing was also erected to keep the new foliage from being disturbed.

The civic association has long been active in both environmental and community affairs as President Fugarino and other organization officials are a constant presence at government and local meetings. The group provides scholarships to area students, hosts an annual harvest festival, Earth Day cleanups and other events, and conducts an ambitious spay and neuter program to reduce the number of feral cats in the area. Their meetings, the first Monday of every month at the Mastic Beach Fire Department starting at 7 pm., are well attended and feature informative guest speakers.

Pattersquash Creek is a main tributary draining water from the Mastic Beach Peninsula with an origin that can be traced past Brookhaven's Bayview Park into the downtown business district. It opens up to Pattersquash Island which buffers it from the Fire Island's barrier beach. The civic association has been a vocal advocate of building sewers to protect the region's water supply. For the latest updates, visit the group's Facebook Page.