Protecting the Mainland: Fire Island’s #1 Job

Fire Island is a special place for so many reasons. Famous for world class beaches and recreational resources. Renowned for our colorful history, vibrant cultural scene, and unique environmental settings. An inspiration for artists and writers; an important driver of LI economy; a dynamic coastal laboratory for scientific study; and a spectacular National Seashore.

But first and foremost, Fire Island is a 32-mile long barrier island—a critically important link in a chain of barrier islands that stretches along the South Shore of Long Island all the way from Coney Island to Westhampton. Without this system of long, narrow “sand bars” that provide protection from the fury of destructive Atlantic storms, the consequences for residents, homes and businesses on the South Shore would be dire. Look up the ’38 hurricane and the nor’easter of ‘62. And, of course, remember Superstorm Sandy, 12 years ago this month.

Living and working on a barrier island is risky business. As we absorb the energy of more frequent and intense Atlantic coastal storms, our beaches are washed away, dunes are flattened, infrastructure is damaged, and we suffer serious flooding from both bay and ocean. The good news, however, is that federal, state and local governments and elected officials understand the critical importance of maintaining a strong and protective dune and berm system on Fire Island. They also recognize that we accept the substantial risks and responsibilities associated with being the first line of defense for south shore communities from Bay Shore to Mastic Beach.

After a series of punishing coastal storms in late 2023 and early 2024, the Army Corps, New York State, Suffolk County and the Towns of Islip and Brookhaven supported two major emergency repair projects for Fire Island. Re-nourishing the west end was completed in early spring of this year. (See FIA’s update on West End Project here). Work on the east end, scheduled to begin in the next few weeks and be done by March 15, 2025, will be completed by Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company of Houston, Texas. The project involves offshore dredging and pumping up to 2 million yards of sand onshore to restore the beaches and dunes from eastern Seaview all the way down to Davis Park. (See the USACE press release here.)

We are enormously grateful to all our elected officials who lent their enthusiastic support for rebuilding our beaches. Many thanks to Senator Schumer, Senator Gillibrand, Governor Hochul, Congressman Garbarino, County Executive Romaine, Supervisor Panico, Supervisor Carpenter, Councilman Foley and all of our other partners in government for coming together to support our communities while also maintaining the integrity and protective strength of our priceless gem of a barrier island.