The Long Island Plains are near extinction or at the very least endangered. Those areas where attempts are made to preserve the plains grass are suffering from weed infiltration. The weeds and scrub trees are more aggressive and will overtake the preserve areas unless something is done about it. Fortunately the county along with volunteer groups are doing something about it. Volunteers such as the Eagle Scouts are cutting out brush in preparation for a controlled burn.1 The controlled burn will allow the prairie grass to be regrown from seed stock minus the aggressive weeds. The area where this is to take place was once used a campground by Nassau County, in the early 1970's. Due to evidence present, I had initially suspected this of being the Mitchel Field Trailer park. I checked with local experts2 who confirmed it was the Nasssau County Campground for a while. The Mitchel Trailer park was nearby but its exact location still eludes me. I suspect it was further to the East near Merrick Avenue, anyone know?

Looking South and West from the cleared area.

Looking east and southeast from the western edge of the cleared area. There is still quite a bit left to do. If you like you can also see the south east perimeter road area.

1) Eagle Scout Troop - ? 2) Jim Fuller, Ronald Duschenchuk, Ed Zimmerman all indicated its use as a Nassau County Camp ground. Which makes sense since it is so close to the runway system.