As a kid growing up in the hills of Northwestern Connecticut, there were few experiences I cherished more than living in the "sticks." Snorkeling with my dog in a backyard stream, playing floor hockey in an abandoned chicken coop, contemplating life from my perch in a fir tree that still stands at the edge of our swamp - this was the stuff I lived for. Each day brought a real and different adventure. It was a far cry from suburbia and cyberspace, yet these daily experiences shaped my life and my values in powerful ways. Like you, I watch in disbelief as development rolls over the landscape like an armored battalion, clearing the woods, condemning its critters, and forever closing off the opportunity for curious kids like me to really "go outside and play." I often wonder how my kids will grow up. But more than the effects of witnessing the physical drama of nature ravaged by development, I am often moved to ask myself about the insidious consequences of separating every aspect of our lives from the natural world around us. Without the experience of nature, it's difficult to imagine how any of us could seriously invest in its future. When that final contact is lost, so too will be the human pleasure and wisdom that comes from experiencing the natural world.

Fortunately, anyone who lives or vacations on the east end of Long Island will tell you that we still have what other Long Islanders have long since lost. Despite the odds, we have not yet surrendered the best assets of our natural world to the nightmare of suburban sprawl. We have, however, reached a critical stage in charting a course for the future of land preservation on the South Fork, and 1996 will be a pivotal year in deciding the ultimate fate of our landscape.

With only a handful of large unbroken forest lands left on the South Fork, this is our last chance to get it right and secure a quality of life and a healthy environment that will support us well into the next century. If we fail, we will confront one development application after another until nothing worth saving remains.

In the next few months, the public will have four very important opportunities to set a region-wide open space preservation plan in motion and transform an open space opportunity into open space protection. First, the Town of Southampton will consider a ballot proposal that would allow town residents to vote for an open space bond referendum in November. At press time, the town was debating whether the amount of the bond should be three, four or five million dollars. Our research indicates that more than $10 million in acquisition funds will be needed to achieve the town's own open space goals, so we obviously support the $5 million bond (which would cost the average homeowner just $8.00 per year).

Second, the Town of East Hampton has just unveiled a comprehensive Open Space Plan. If adopted, it will lay a solid planning foundation for future land preservation efforts throughout the town. A March hearing is scheduled for the plan, and public support for its findings will be essential. Unless this plan is adopted, the direction of town open space planning will be unclear and actual open space protection will suffer as a result. Third, we are extremely hopeful that the East Hampton Town Board will proceed with an open space bond referendum similar to that proposed by Southampton, and we know that approval of the Open Space Plan will be essential to moving that effort along. As we found in Southampton, public support for this proposal will be key to the size and success of any bond that is considered. As is the case in Southampton, it is also true that without meaningful funding, many of East Hampton's town-wide open space goals cannot be realized.

Fourth, after discussions with Group Vice President Kevin McDonald and Southampton Town Councilman Skip Heaney, County Executive Bob Gaffney announced a new open space funding plan, which would provide a matching fund of up to 5 million dollars for local governments that embark on acquisition programs. Beginning in 1997, this county funding would allow the towns to double their acquisition funds at no additional local costs to the town taxpayer.

There is one hitch, however, and it is significant. In order for the county funding to succeed, the County Executive's plan would have to be accepted by the Suffolk County Legislature - a body whose environmental support has been increasingly on the wane. Nonetheless, the legislature has an interest in working with the County Executive, and significant public pressure can put this proposal over the top. Again, we will need your support and your participation if we are to make the most of this tremendous opportunity. In the end analysis, 1996 will present us with some of the greatest challenges and opportunities for preserving open spaces across the region. To meet these challenges, we will need to ask for your help and assistance throughout the year as we take our case to town hall and the Suffolk County Legislature. Given what we have to lose, I believe we can turn every one of these unique opportunities into a success and send a clear message of pubic support to those elected officials who have the power to make decisions.