Thiele Applauds Cuomo's Efforts to Bolster Peconic Estuary Program

EAST HAMPTON, NY — New York State Assemblyman Fred Thiele gave a shout out to Governor Andrew Cuomo this week for including $200,000 in the 2017 executive budget for the Peconic Estuary Program.

The Peconic Estuary, Thiele said, was called one of the "last great places in the western hemisphere" by the Nature Conservancy,

As a county legislator in 1991, Thiele reminded that he sponsored legislation which nominated the Peconic Estuary for inclusion in the National Estuary Program; he said he's led the fight for our bays ever since.

In 1993, the Peconic Estuary became the 20th estuary in the nation to receive the designation as an "Estuary of National Significance" by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a release noted. Currently there are 28 estuaries in the program.

As part of the National Estuary Program, the Peconic Estuary Program is "an innovative partnership of local, state, and federal governments, citizen and environmental groups, businesses and industries, and academic institutions," the release said.

"With the proposed state funding for the Peconic Estuary, the total funding from federal, state and county sources for 2017 would total about $1 million," Thiele said. "With changes to the Peconic Bay region's Community Preservation Fund, the five East End towns can use the CPF to match these funds dollar for dollar and double the level of funding. With this partnership, the Peconic Estuary Program will be poised to aggressively pursue a strategy to improve water quality, habitat and productivity in the estuary. This is a turning point for our bays."

Photo courtesy of Peconic Estuary Program.