Long Island’s Central Pine Barrens is a protected natural landscape of more than 100,000 acres in Suffolk County and the island’s largest remaining wilderness, preserving a rare Atlantic coastal pine barrens ecosystem. Its importance extends beyond forests and open land because it helps recharge part of Long Island’s sole source aquifer and includes much of the Peconic and Carmans rivers and their watersheds. Protection developed gradually through land acquisitions, local open-space efforts, legal battles, and the 1993 Long Island Pine Barrens Protection Act, which created a strictly protected core and a limited-growth zone. Repeated wildfires have also shaped the region and highlighted its environmental significance.

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain