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Four Harbors Summer Lecture

Guest Lecturer:  Don Riepe

Despite intensive development over the past 100 years, Jamaica Bay still provides critical habitat for a great diversity of wildlife.  Located along the Atlantic Migratory Flyway, it is important nesting, winter, and migratory habitat for many species of avifauna.  Over 340 species of birds have been recorded in the bay over the last 50 years. In the 1950s, two large freshwater ponds were created and much of the bay’s central marshes, uplands, and open water was declared as a protected wildlife refuge by the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation.  In 1972, it became part of Greenway National Recreation Area.  As an estuary, Jamaica Bay’s marshes, creeks, and channels provide habitat for many species of finfish in Jamaica Bay waters.  In the 1980s, National Park Service biologists reintroduced 19 species of native herptiles to the bay’s upland ecosystem from local populations that were threatened with extinction.  Also in the 1980s, NYC Audubon, the Trust for Public Land, and the American Littoral Society initiated an innovative program called “Buffer the Bay,” whereby lands around the bay were assessed and prioritized for their ecological importance to the bay.  The groups then worked to have these lands put into protective status as part of the bay’s ecosystem.  Today, many more groups and agencies are working together to protect and enhance the bay’s fragile habitat resources.  The challenges are daunting as sea level rise, march loss, and an expected increase in New York City’s human population will be difficult issues to accommodate and surmount.  Don’s program includes photos documenting wildlife and resource management activities undertaken over the past 40 years.

Don Riepe retired from the National Park Service in 2003 where he worked as a naturalist ranger and manager of the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in NYC.  Currently he is employed as Jamaica Bay Guardian and Director of the Northeast Chapter for the American Littoral Society.  Don has written many articles on natural history subjects, and his photographs have been published in many journals including Scientific American, National Wildlife, Audubon, Defenders, Underwater Naturalist, Parade, and The New York Times.  He has an M.S. in Natural Resources Management from the University of New Hampshire, and has taught a course in Wildlife Management at St. John’s University.  He also serves on the advisory board of NYC Audubon and is co-chair of the Jamaica Bay Task Force.  An avid birder, he also has a keen interest in Lepidoptera (butterflies & moths).

Free and open to all.

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