A Mill Neck-based nonprofit organization is set to purchase and permanently protect five acres of land in Oyster Bay Cove with the help of a $1.3 million state grant.
The North Shore Land Alliance was awarded $1.285 million through the state Department of Environmental Conservation Water Quality Improvement Project to support its purchase of five acres from the Pulling property in Oyster Bay Cove. The site is located just off Yellow Cote Road, next to the 30-acre Red Cote Preserve, which the Land Alliance already manages.
The five acres of land lie within the Oyster Bay Special Groundwater Protection Area, one of the region’s nine groundwater recharge zones.
The Pulling family has owned and cared for the land for over 100 years. It contains a mix of woodland and wetland habitats and hosts several native species that encourage pollinators and provide food sources and refuge for birds, box turtles and small mammals, the Land Alliance said.
“Its protection is essential to maintaining the quality of the aquifer that supplies drinking water to thousands of Long Island residents,” the Land Alliance said in a statement.
“By conserving this property, we are safeguarding drinking water, protecting wildlife habitat and expanding open space for the community,” Lisa Ott, president of the North Shore Land Alliance, said.
The grant will fund a significant portion of the purchase price along with transaction costs like surveys, appraisals, legal and closing costs, according to the organization.
The remaining funds needed to acquire the property, make improvements and steward the land in perpetuity have already been raised through local support, foundations and donations, the Land Alliance said. In 2025, the Land Alliance said it had raised over $600,000 toward buying the estimated $1.5 million property.
The Land Alliance applied for the state funding last year as part of what it says is its mission to protect and steward Long Island’s natural and historic lands, waters and environmental resources.
More than $208 million was awarded by the department to 131 projects throughout the state in January through the DEC’s Water Quality Improvement Project. DEC Commissioner Amanda Lefton said in a statement that the funding “will help our municipal partners achieve meaningful reductions in flood risk, protect drinking water, improve aquatic habitat, and safeguard residents from increasingly severe weather events.”
Oyster Bay Cove Mayor Charles Goulding previously said he supports the project, as the preserve is “very accessible and widely used, and enjoyed by the general public.”
