Golf At Hither Hills?
The Coalition for Hither Woods is back.
Formed in 1982, the group killed the largest subdivision ever proposed in East Hampton Town and by 1989 had won preservation of 1,335 acres of Montauk wilderness. Its members, some of whom went on to work in town government, have joined forces once again, this time to fight a rumored proposal to build an 18-hole golf course in the adjacent Hither Hills State Park.
"This idea will be violently opposed. . . . It'll get nasty if Mr. Wankel tries to put a golf course in the heart of the largest coastal forest preserve in the entire northeast United States," said Richard Whalen, a deputy town attorney, coalition co-founder, and member of the East Hampton Trails Preservation Society.
Not At Camp Hero
Under Edward Wankel, a deputy state parks commissioner and a golfing enthusiast, the Parks Department had proposed to build a golf course at Camp Hero, near the Montauk Lighthouse. The plan met with widespread opposition, and state officials are now saying it is on a back burner.
George Gorman, a Parks Department spokesman, said a Camp Hero course was "no longer a top priority."
"Hiking, biking, camping, and more passive recreation is what we're thinking about there," he said.
The state's change of heart came after the National Park Service, which gave Camp Hero to the state but retained a proprietary interest in it, rejected the idea of a golf course.
State Eyes Other Sites
However, saying it is faced with a demand for more golf courses and a need to maximize revenue, the Parks Department is now "evaluating" its other holdings in Montauk as possible sites of a golf course, said Mr. Gorman.
He denied that Hither Hills was among the possibilities, although several local officials have reported receiving inquiries from state parks officials about how the idea would be received.
Lisa Liquori, the town planning director, said such an inquiry had been made of her, and Lisa Grenci and Rav Freidel, the current and past presidents of Concerned Citizens of Montauk, said the same.
"We are only evaluating the recreational uses in all our holdings in Montauk," said Mr. Gorman yesterday.
The state owns Montauk Downs and has received innumerable complaints from golfers who have been unable to book a tee time at the course there, said Mr. Gorman. He said he did not know if the state was considering privatizing the Downs as well.
Three Possibilities
"There is an undeniable demand for another golf course in Montauk," he said.
Within that area, the state now owns just three parks large enough for 18 holes, a parking lot, a clubhouse, and other golfing amenities, comprising some 250 acres at least: Camp Hero, Hither Hills, and Napeague Meadow State Park, which is all sand and marsh meadow.
The residents who fought years ago to preserve Hither Woods said they are convinced the state is zeroing in on Hither Hills, and are organizing a full-scale attack.
Will Mobilize
"We will follow through regardless of whether they say there are plans at this point," said Mr. Whalen. "Mr. Wankel's only objective as a government employee seems to be to increase the number of golf courses out here. . . . Hikers, bikers, and birdwatchers don't produce revenue for state parks."
Mr. Whalen and Thomas Ruhle, a co-founder of the coalition who later became a Town Councilman, have begun meeting with some of their old coalition comrades, as well as supporters from Concerned Citizens of Montauk, the Trails Preservation Society, and other local groups.
State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr., who is leading the attack on the state's proposed gentrification and privatization of the Sag Harbor golf course on Barcelona Neck, is also a coalition supporter.
Hither Woods
The parkland between Napeague Harbor and Fort Pond Bay is known collectively as Hither Woods but is actually made up of three contiguous parks, 3,165 acres in all.
The state-owned Hither Hills is the westernmost, stretching from ocean to bay and taking in a campground, the Walking Dunes, Fresh Pond, and Goff Point - 1,855 acres altogether.
The 777-acre Lee Koppelman Preserve to the east is owned by the county. Hither Woods proper, 558 acres owned jointly by the state, county, and town, lies to the north of the Koppelman Preserve and at the eastern headland of Fort Pond Bay.
Sag Harbor Course
As a result of his meetings with the coalition, Mr. Thiele said he would expand a bill he was introducing this week on the Sag Harbor golf course. It would require the Parks Department to create a management plan for the park and would impose a moratorium on any development there until the plan is in place.
Mr. Thiele said there did not appear to be a management plan for Hither Hills either.
In 1968, the Parks Department proposed an 18-hole course and clubhouse there, between Montauk Point State Boulevard and the train tracks, but the idea was shelved when the state bought Montauk Downs.
Hanging Around
However, the plans still hang in the department's regional headquarters at Belmont Lake in Babylon, confirmed Mr. Gorman, and show golf links scattered from the highway to the edge of Fresh Pond.
Mr. Wankel told some Montauk residents that the death of the Camp Hero proposal was the rebirth of the one at Hither Hills, which won approval with the help of then-Assemblyman Perry B. Duryea Jr., a Montauk resident.
Thiele's Management Plan
The state's plan for the Sag Harbor golf course could involve a new clubhouse, higher greens fees, and an irrigation system. Its critics have been angered in part by the lack of public disclosure about the Parks Department's intentions.
"The discussions occurred in the back rooms of agencies in Albany," charged Mr. Thiele. The process for adopting a management plan would include public hearings, though.
"The local community and local government would be invited to participate," said the Assemblyman. "Once it's out in the open, we can all look at the environmental impacts and the full realm of possible uses, and make rational decisions."
Original Coalition
Mr. Whalen said the reconstituted Coalition for Hither Woods would look very much like the old one, which ceased having any reason to meet after the Koppelman Preserve was created in 1989.
He recalled that "within a week" after he and Mr. Ruhle, a college friend and now the deputy town housing director, decided to push for the preservation of Hither Woods, a large group of residents, environmentalists, sportsmen, and outdoor enthusiasts had assembled under the common goal.
Among them were the then-president of C.C.O.M., Richard Johnson; Larry Penny, now the town natural resources director; Russell Stein, then counsel to Group for the South Fork and later a town attorney; Charlene Briand, who went on to become a member of the Zoning Board of Ap peals, and Mr. Freidel and Carol Morrison, future C.C.O.M. presidents.
Natural Features
They argued that Hither Woods sits atop a major groundwater aquifer (the Suffolk County Water Authority later kicked in $1 million to help buy the Koppelman Preserve) and contains irreplaceable natural and historical features.
These include the Old North Road, a pre-Colonial Indian trail used in this century by bootleggers; the Ram Level prairie, the cavernous Devil's Cradle kettlehole, dunelands, and more.
Hither Woods has since become a significant link in the Paumanok Trail, which runs from Montauk Point to Rocky Point in Brookhaven. Completing and maintaining the trail has become a unifier for hikers, mountain bikers, hunters, cross-country skiers, birdwatchers, and others.
Right To The Top
"It would be crazy to cut the heart out of Hither Woods," said Mr. Whalen. "A golf course is a development, and traditionally is dependent on chemicals. You have to clear-cut 200 to 250 acres."
"And it's not just a golf course. There's infrastructure - a parking lot, street lights, a restaurant, a pro shop. It would be insane."
He said the same people who were opposed to golf at Camp Hero are op posed to it at Hither Woods, and they were all planning to "go over Mr. Wankel's head" to get "formal protec tion, so we don't have to fight off any other stupid proposals in the future."
Dead Bodies
Mr. Freidel said he was back on board too, and that many newcomers were joining up: "There's this diverse group of people all saying, 'This will happen over my dead body.'"
"We're all sympathetic to the recreational needs of this community, but it's not like we're making any more forests. I'm not a hunter, but if you put in a golf course, then where will they hunt? I'm not a trail biker either, but if you put in a golf course, where do you do your trail biking?"
"Hither Woods is the largest undeveloped parcel on the East End, outside of the pine barrens. It would be a shame to make it a lawn," said Mr. Freidel.
"Bethpage already has five golf courses," he added, "and the state is going to put in a sixth. If they put another one in Montauk, will it stop there?"