Oyster Bay: Long Island Sound's Endangered National Wildlife Refuge

The Oyster Bay National Wildlife Refuge has made Defenders of Wildlife's list of 10 most endangered NWRs. The reasons: pollution from failing septics, runoff, poorly-treated sewage, motorboats, and proposed developments.

"The primary way to save Oyster Bay is to slow the pace of development," the Defenders of Wildlife Report says, as well as to declare the area a no-discharge zone for boats (it's mind-boggling to me that it isn't already).

Kyle Rabin, executive director of Friends of the Bay, said in a press release: "The easiest steps to begin to better safeguard the bay are to construct infrastructure to filter stormwater runoff that is currently flowing directly into Oyster Bay and for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to declare Oyster Bay a 'no-discharge zone' to help discourage the dumping of raw sewage and oil from motor boats."

The other nine NWRs on the list are Florida Panther; McFaddin, Texas; Mingo, Missouri; Pocosin Lakes, North Carolina; Browns Park, Colorado; Buenos Aires, Arizona; Sonny Bono Salton Sea, California; Moapa Valley, Nevada; and the Arctic NWR, Alaska.

Newsday covered it. Here's the Defenders' report and Friends of the Bay press release.