Welcome to the
Nature Preserve Internet Site
Suffolk County
Community College
Michael J.
Grant Campus
Crooked Hill Road
Brentwood, New York 11717-1092
This site contains information regarding
the Nature Preserve at the Michael J. Grant Campus of Suffolk County Community College. The
interpretative trail is approximately one quarter of a mile long and takes about
an hour to complete. In the preserve, you can observe many varieties of trees,
shrubs, flowers and herbaceous plants, as well as a number of species of birds and other animals. (Click
here for a list of the birds found within the preserve.)
The preserve is open from dawn to dusk on any day that the campus is open.
Please stay on the trail. Smoking is not permitted and no vehicles are
allowed. Allow your senses to be stimulated: look, listen, smell and feel your
surroundings. Take only your impressions and leave only footprints. (Click
here for
the article, "Go
Take A Hike".)
Deer Ticks, which can carry Lyme Disease, are common on Long Island, as are Dog
Ticks. Ticks live in brushy areas. Protect yourself by staying on the cleared
trail, tucking your pants legs into your socks and checking yourself when you
leave the trail.
In the late 1920s, construction began on Pilgrim State Hospital on the western side of Crooked Hill Road in Brentwood. At that time, a forest tract on the eastern side of the road was almost completely cleared to make way for the State Hospital Farm Colony. Fortunately, a small area of woodland was left relatively undisturbed.
Over one hundred patients worked on the
state farm colony growing a variety of fruits, vegetables and grains. They
raised pigs and chickens and kept horses to work the fields. Produce from the
farm supplied the hospital kitchens. The garbage was fed to the pigs. (Click
here for
a photograph of the farm and
here
for a photograph of
the farm road today.)
Suffolk County purchased the 206-acre farm for a second campus of Suffolk
County Community College. This facility opened in September, 1974 with an
enrollment of 1300 students. Classes were brought to the fields and woodlands
for environmental instruction.
A large, gray barn, located in the field to the south of the Nature Trail, was an important feature of the new campus, and many events and gatherings took place there. On December 23, 1983, an arsonist set a fire that leveled the structure. (Click here for the article on the gray barn.)
In 1996, Suffolk County Community College set aside the northwest corner of the Campus as a preserve. (Click here for a map of the Western Campus.)
The Grant Campus Nature Preserve Committee, made up of faculty, staff, administrators and students, has been charged with overseeing the Nature Preserve. The Committee's goal is to promote the educational role of the Nature Preserve and to encourage environmental awareness in the classroom. The webpage called "Earth Lessons" invites student work of any form that deals with environmental themes, but especially work that was inspired by the use of the Preserve’s outdoor classroom. Earth Lessons has been developed and maintained by Professor Marc Fellenz, and showcases written works and artwork created by students about nature. (Click here for the Earth Lessons webpage.)
This site was created and is
maintained by:
Dorothy M. Chanin, Professional Assistant of the Natural Sciences
Department
John W. Kulkosky, Assistant Professor of Earth and
Space Sciences
Dana S. Woltering, Professional
Assistant of the Natural Sciences Department
If you have any questions or comments, please e-mail to:
kulkosj@sunysuffolk.edu.