Preservation of federally owned Plum Island has been stalled for years. Now a new measure may be voted on in the House of Representatives that could move things along. The almost-800-acre island just off Orient Point surrounded by Gardiner’s Bay and Long Island Sound is the site of an animal disease laboratory soon to be closed and its operations moved to Kansas. Not only does Plum Island have the disease labs, but it contains evidence of Native American settlements, as well as a late-19th-century coastal defense fort. Then there is the splendid mazework of woods and ponds, an ecosystem that is diminishing elsewhere on the East End.
The bill is limited. It would only require the secretary of the Interior Department to conduct a study of Plum Island, to assess whether it would be an appropriate addition to the National Park system or the National Wildlife Refuge system.
As an alternative, President Biden could, in the waning days of his administration, unilaterally declare Plum Island a national monument, thereby sidestepping Congress. During his eight years as president, Barack Obama designated 29 national monuments and expanded four others. President Biden designated five new national monuments and expanded two. An important factor to consider, however, is if Mr. Biden made the designation, the next administration could be eager to reverse it. Whoever does it — Congress or the White House — the biggest challenge is money for a cleanup of the animal disease laboratory, which could cost hundreds of millions of dollars and require congressional approval.
Often Washington, D.C., seems very far away, but this is one case in which it really matters, right in our figurative backyard. Careful strategy is called for at this point in time.