Newsday, February 4, 2026:
“Opinion | Leave dysfunction behind for a change”
"A sustainable future requires science-backed change. The desire to recreate Stump Pond stems from misguided nostalgia for a flawed and outdated idea of green space."
Newsday, January 28, 2026:
“Blydenburgh Park dam rebuild can move ahead without environmental review, committee rules”
"But in the 17 months since the dam breached, the muddy barren pond basin had been transformed into a wetland meadow, a flourishing habitat for plants and wildlife.
"A coalition of 21 local, state and national conservation groups — including Save the Sound, Seatuck, several Audubon chapters, Trout Unlimited, the Open Space Council and the Setalcott Nation — have cataloged more than a dozen ecological harms that would result from building a new barrier across the Nissequogue River and have urged the council to recommend a full environmental impact statement."
Newsday, January 17, 2026:
“Debate Flows Over Dam | Suffolk, state at odds on county plan to rebuild in Smithtown, where wildlife has replaced Stump Pond”
"Kohlmann advised the county that the dam could have a 'significant adverse impact on the environment.' That includes greater risk of flooding and drainage problems, the destruction of many acres of plants, and harm to migratory fish and other wildlife, Kohlmann wrote.
"He said the county should consider potential damage to native plants and wildlife, noting that migrating fish often struggle to swim through human-built fish passages. The project could also threaten remaining stands of Atlantic white cedar, a threatened species in New York and a host plant for rare Hessel's hairstreak butterflies ..."
Newsday: June 1, 2025
“Editorial | Should Suffolk rebuild dam or let the Nissequogue run free?”
"The anti-dam argument also is strong. Let the dam go and the area will serve as a flood plain, absorbing spillover of heavy rains that are increasingly a problem in the region. Chances are the Atlantic white cedar will reestablish itself and the forest will regrow around the river. No dam would mean the Nissequogue would return to doing what rivers do — carry sediment and nutrients downstream to Long Island Sound where they would enrich and strengthen the wetlands that are ever more vital as our natural defense against rising seas.
"It also would allow for the return to the river of native fish like brook trout. And it would let flourish species like alewives and herring and eels..."
ReWild Long Island, January 17, 2026:
“Let the Nissequogue River Run | The Case for Not Rebuilding the Failed Stump Pond Dam”
Join Enrico Nardone, Executive Director of the Seatuck Environmental Association, for an eye-opening look at the rare opportunity Suffolk County has to restore the Nissequogue River by not rebuilding the Stump Pond Dam, which failed in August 2024.
What: Suffolk County Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) special meeting
Where: H Lee Dennison Building, 100 Veterans Memorial Hwy, Hauppauge, NY 11788
When: Wednesday, January 28 at 9:30 am
Supporters of a healthy, free-flowing river need to fill the room and make our voices heard.
Please email info@freethenissequogue.org with any questions.