Ceremony Held Friday at Bideawee’s Westhampton Location 
Members of the Central Pine Barrens Commission including Town of Brookhaven Supervisor Ed Romaine, Town of Riverhead Supervisor Laura Jens-Smith, Town of Southampton Supervisor Jay Schneiderman and Commission Executive Director John Pavacic joined Pine Barrens Society Executive Director Richard Amper and the dog and cat rescue and care organization Bideawee during a ceremony this week to celebrate Bideawee’s receipt of the 1,000th pine barrens credit issued by the Commission.
The Long Island Pine Barrens Credit Program is one of the most successful transfer of development rights programs in the country. It has been instrumental in the preservation of approximately 2,000 acres of land in the core of the region. Bideawee received 13.36 credits recently to help the program cross the 1,000-credit threshold.
“The significance of this landmark cannot be overstated,” said Executive Director Pavacic at the event. “What the success of this program means is that we’ve been able to protect the most sensitive areas of the ecological treasure that is the Central Pine Barrens while still protecting the rights of those who own property in the core by transferring their development rights to places where it’s most appropriate. And that makes it a rare governmental program in which everybody wins.”
