Members of the Coalition to Save Red Spring Woods recently hosted a tour of what they are calling the "last bit of green space in Glen Cove ... 11 acres of pristine, untouched forest located in [our] neighborhood" for government officials and representatives and representatives of environmental groups. The coalition's mission is to keep the land from becoming the city's latest housing development. They also met with the owner of the property for what turned out to be an informative and fruitful meeting, according to coalition member Gordon Allan.

At the meeting with property owner Al Cirignano of Bayville, it became apparent that he was willing to change his mind regarding developing the Red Spring Woods. Mr. Cirignano said that he would be willing to sell his land to any environmental or governmental agency willing to purchase the property for preservation, as long as the purchase price is mutually agreed upon by all parties.

Mr. Cirignano said he had not been aware of the movement to save the woods and his introduction to the coalition, as well as a moratorium on building being considered by Mayor Ralph Suozzi and the Glen Cove City Council, gave him good reason to stop and listen to all sides.

At the meeting, Mr. Cirignano told coalition members that he has twice been in touch with Tom Maher, director of the Office of Environmental Coordination of Nassau County and had expressed his interest in selling the land to the county's Open Space Program. According to Mr. Cirignano, Mr. Maher stated that he is attempting to have the Red Spring Woods re-reviewed by the county's Open Space Committee, chaired by Brian Mueller, and that they will "hopefully" get the property placed on the consideration list for preservation and new appraisals.

Mr. Cirignano said that he had never slated for destruction the trees the coalition believed he had. "The markers on the trees which neighbors thought meant they were marked for destruction were just surveyors' marks. The surveyors' chalk marks came off from the dampness, so they flagged the trees," he said, adding that he understood why neighbors would be upset. He added that should his land be developed, preservation of as many as possible of the old-growth trees would be one of his top priorities and it had never been in his design to clear-cut the property for development. "We never intended to cut down one tree that we didn't have to," he said. "In fact, we were looking to make driveways narrower, to work around the trees."

A serious concern for Mr. Cirignano at this time is that he has a substantial mortgage on the land which carries a large monthly payment; he is interested in moving the purchase along quickly to alleviate his financial burden.

So it would seem that a new coalition is growing, just as a tree grows a new branch, and the Red Spring Woods Coalition is now working with Mr. Cirignano as a facilitator between him, the county and other political and environmental entities to ensure him assistance with his preservation goal.

For his part, Mr. Cirignano stated that he would be very willing to assist the coalition with the preservation effort and has volunteered to attend future Glen Cove Zoning, Planning and City Council meetings to make his preservation wishes known.

Mr. Gordon would like to publicly thank Matthew Cohen, Long Island Regional Representative for Sen. Chuck Schumer, for his offer to do all he can for the cause. For further information, to find out what you can do for the cause, or to volunteer/join the coalition, visit http://savetheredspringwoods.50webs.com, e-mail savetheredspringwoods@yahoo.com, or call 676-6270.