Project Overview
The goals of this project are: 1. to assess the potential for restoring freshwater wetland, riparian and upland habitats that were extensively degraded by the operation of a former duck farm located on an 87-acre site in South Haven, Town of Brookhaven, Suffolk County, New York that is now the Robinson Duck Farm County Park; and 2. prepare a preferred restoration plan for this park, which is surrounded by the 2,550-acre Wertheim National Wildlife Refuge (NWR). This plan, produced with input from a stakeholders workgroup, considered structure demolition and debris clean-up, landform alteration, restoration of hydrological connections and invasive vegetation control for the 1,500 feet of riparian transition zone habitat along the Carmans River in the eastern portion of the park, as well as management strategies for the upland grassland habitat found in the central and western sections. It includes discussion of park management objectives, and preliminary designs and costs for physical restoration activities. As such, the plan provides policymakers with technical guidance on recommendations for future park use and the implementation of habitat restoration actions over short- and long-term periods.
Work started on this project in January 2009, and it was completed in June 2010. The County selected Greenman-Pedersen, Inc. in conjunction with Green Shield Ecology, Inc. and P.W. Grosser Consulting, as the project consultant after completing the Request for Proposals process.