Letters

Last week’s article “Fate of Southampton Town-Owned Poxabogue Field, Within Sagaponack Village, Is Debated at Town Board Meeting” [27east.com, September 10] brought to light the concerns of some Southampton Town Board members that changing the status of Poxabogue Field from agriculture to open space/nature preserve might set a precedent that keeps farmers in the future from selling their land to the Community Preservation Fund.

This is not the case.

Poxabogue Field is a unique parcel, since it is located in the Long Pond Greenbelt Nature Preserve, where it sits next to Poxabogue Pond, one of the greenbelt’s famous string of ponds and wetlands. Since the 1970s, the pond has been the target of preservation efforts by Southampton Town and Suffolk County, with much of the land encircling the pond now conserved. A naturalized Poxabogue Field would form a significant addition to this pond-sensitive natural area.

In the seven years since Poxabogue Field was last plowed, an amazing transformation has taken place. The land has slowly reverted to an open grassland where native grasses and wildflowers are thriving. The field has also become home to many animals, birds and insects, a living example of an evolved, naturalized open field. It is also a designated link in the Bay-to-Ocean Trail, a walking path that would allow the public to enjoy this special space.

While Friends of the Long Pond Greenbelt wholeheartedly supports local farming, the plowing, fencing, irrigating and erecting of farm structures at Poxabogue Field would destroy its value not only as a scenic vista but as an important component of the Long Pond Greenbelt’s rare coastal plain pond ecosystem.

Please, let it be.

Dai Dayton

President

Friends of the Long Pond Greenbelt