Posted on March 10, 2025
Environmental advocacy group Wild Ones warned Town of Hempstead residents about the dangers of Long Island’s changing coastlines during an informational session on Feb. 22. Held at the Merrick Library, the presentation was directed to all Long Island residents.
“We feel important issues such as shoreline resiliency should be brought to the attention of our residents,” said Andrea Martone, the Vice President, and Community Leader for Wild Ones’ Town of Hempstead community hub. “This issue will be of major concern to property owners now and in the coming decades of climate change and rising ocean levels.”
The Wild Ones chapter for the New York Metropolitan Area is one of Long Island’s organizations that work to prepare communities for the challenges posed by climate change.
Long Island’s south shore was hammered by Superstorm Sandy in 2012, eroding beaches, flooding coastal houses, and causing $19 billion in damage to the New York metropolitan area, according to a report by the New York Special Initiative for Rebuilding and Resiliency. Since then, shoreline communities need better protection to avoid harm.
“After Sandy, a lot of people raised their houses,” Wild Ones Secretary Gary Schulz said. “You bought time. But that’s it. Another big storm, that six feet may not be enough anymore.”
Laura Schwanof works for GEI Consulting as a landscape architect and a senior ecologist. She has worked on nature restoration projects for over 30 years. The Wild Ones team met Schwanof at a shoreline resiliency presentation at Hofstra University last year, which inspired them to partner for a community education program.
According to Schwanof, one of the best ways local communities can protect themselves from storms is to prevent further damage to natural coastlines and to support restoration projects.
Beach restoration projects often add sand back to the beaches and reintroduce native species of tough plants that can soften waves and strengthen dunes. Natural beaches and marshes are able to reduce the force of incoming storm waves by 50 percent over short distances — and without these natural barriers, beachfront properties are exposed to greater danger from the sea.
Many marshlands were destroyed when suburbs were developed along the south shore throughout the 20th century, said Fred Nass, Wild Ones President.
Nass, a Merrick resident for decades, has witnessed how the south shore has changed to become less storm resistant with the construction of new homes.
“I thought this would be an excellent program, especially for residents who now have to face the fact that there are detriments to life and property when you’re owning a house along the shoreline,” Nass said.
The other important step is to speak with local elected officials about environmental programs, she said.
“Become an advocate for environmental change — that’s key,” Schwanof said. “Be aware of your surroundings. Your property isn’t your only responsibility, it’s your community as a whole.”
Schwanof encouraged local homeowners to research what plants are native to the Long Island ecosystem and include them in their landscaping, strengthening the local ecosystem.
Wild Ones is working to make native species plants more accessible to homeowners.
“We’re looking to develop a nursery that we can be able to offer plants that are appropriate to the local environment,” Nass said. “We have a connection now with the Greenbelt Native Plant Nursery on Staten Island, which has a very large amount of collected and stored native seeds. We also have an invitation with the Town of Hempstead conservation and waterways to germinate plants at their greenhouse.”
Wild Ones has other community hubs on Long Island that are pushing for change. Agatha Martello, Wild Ones Community Hub Leader for the Town of Oyster Bay, works in restorative landscaping.
“We’re trying to educate people because they can empower themselves with their own properties,” Martello said. “The proposal of our groups and a lot of scientists is to stop trying to modify the land against what is against nature. What science tells us is we have to work with nature, because we’re always going to lose (against it).”
