Brookside Preserve
Freeport/Baldwin, Nassau County. Long Island, NY
23 acres

Directions:

From Sunrise Highway, turn north onto Brookside Avenue. Go under the Long Island Rail Road overpass. Brookside Preserve is on the left (west) side of the road, a few hundred yards past the overpass. Diagonal parking is available on the street in front of the preserve's entrance.

History:

1988 -- this was once part of the Brooklyn Water Works and the City of Brooklyn was going to sell the property for development.
South Shore Audubon Society was instrumental in the creation of this county-owned nature preserve straddling Freeport and Baldwin.
Later -- 3 acres were added to the original 20 acres.

As managers, SSAS insures the protection, development, and management of Brookside Preserve as an outdoor environmental resource. Guided tours for interested parties, as well as chapter-produced trail guides for children and adults, are available upon request.

Habitats:

Primarily creek and freshwater wetlands, plus woodlands and successional field.

PLANT LIST:

Trees:
Acer rubrum (red maple)
Fagus grandifolia (American beech)
Nyssa sylvatica (tupelo)
Prunus serotina (black cherry )
Quercus alba (white oak)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Sassafras albidum (sassafras)
Thuja occidentalis (Atlantic white cedar)

Shrubs:
Clethra alnifolia (sweet pepperbush)
Lindera benzoin (spicebush)
Vaccinium corymbosum (highbush blueberry)

Vines:
Vitis sp. (grape)

Herbs:
Arisaema triphyllum (jack-in-the-pulpit)

More information available at www.ssaudubon.org.
Another source: http://ny.audubon.org/sanctuary/soshore.pdf