January 24, 2002 and August 08, 2002 Fans of Focus(The ANN (limes.
If I sound like a tree - hugging groupie when I say
I was honored to install an osprey nest Saturday
with two of the North Fork's most venerable envi-
ronmentalists, Barbara and Paul Stoutenburgh, then
I plead guilty, your honor. The Stoutenburghs were
among seven volunteers who turned out before the
snowstorm to erect my personal nest No. 1 — and
probably Paul's personal nest No. 912 — at the
Waters Edge community on Flanders Bay. And now
that we've gone to school on the old master, addi-
tional nests should start going up at a rate of about
one a week over the next few months. And in the
meantime, I want to thank all the volunteers — par-
ticularly Dr. Richard Cappello and the Cub Scouts
from Den 6 /Pack 39 in Mattituck — for helping to
follow in the Stoutenburghs' 93riant -4i7P font.+
August 8, 2002 • The Suffolk Tim
The purpose of that NFEC fund - raiser was to
honor Barbara and Paul Stoutenburgh for helping
found the group 30 years ago and for increasing
public awareness of matters environmental through
their column, "Focus on Nature." I was asked to sub-
mit a tribute for the commemorative journal, and
this is what I wrote:
"Early this year, a few volunteers gathered on a
beach in Flanders to erect a new osprey nest. They
were mostly men in their 30s and 40s, and the work
Catch
Paul Stoutenburgh
every week here in
THE SUFFOLK TIMES.
P.S. We would like to thank every- •
one who contributed in any way to the
North Fork Environmental Council's
30th- anniversary Summer Gala
Celebration in our honor on Aug. 3.
We will remember it always. —
Barbara and Paul
at nano was physically taxing. A 20-
foot locust post with a 30-foot plat-
form on top is not light, and the men
were straining to plant the pole
upright in the sand. Then all of a sud-
den there was another set of hands
helping to push the pole into position
— and they belonged to Paul
Stoutenburgh.
"And there at his side, as always, was
his wife and partner, Barbara
Stoutenburgh.
"The Stoutenburghs had been invit-
ed that Saturday morning to observe
the nest installation, mostly as a cour-
tesy because of their longstanding
involvement in, and knowledge of,
such undertakings. But once there,
they couldn't resist rolling up their
sleeves and doing the work that need-
ed to be done, and another osprey
nest with the Stoutenburghs' finger-
prints on it was in place.
"For more than half a century,
Barbara and Paul Stoutenburgh have
been at the forefront of the environ-
mental movement on eastern Long
Island. To thousands of people who
have come to know them through
«.V„ prvressional careers, their vari.
ous affiliations, their public service
and their long- running `Focus on
Nature' column, they are the personi-
fication of environmentalism.
"Times /Review Newspapers has
been privileged to work with Barbara
and Paul since 1961, when "Focus on
Nature" first made its debut in The
Riverhead News- Review. Some 2,000
0) columns later, it remains one of the
newspapers' most popular features.
And we all have come to appreciate
the collaborative effort that `Focus'
represents. It
may run under TO fully
Paul's byline, appreciate
but we all
know that then" Impact,
Barbara's all you need
myriad contri- t0 do is take
butions (as co-
writer, typist, a look
editor, proof - around.
reader, pho-
tographer) are
integral to its success.
"In recent years, Barbara and Pau
have willingly and ably accepted th
mantle passed on from such East End
environmental legends as Roy
Latham and Dennis Puleston. And
nowhere was that seamless transition
more evident than in the Stouten-
burghs' public invitation, via their col-
umn, to visit their little piece of para-
dise off Skunk Lane in Cutchogue. If
you've been there, you know what
small wonders of nature visitors were
treated to, and by all accounts it was
an experience Barbara, Paul and
those who made the trek up their long
driveway never will forget.
"To fully appreciate the impact that
Barbara and Paul Stoutenburgh have
had on our environment, all you need
to do is take a look around. Look at
Hallocks Bay in Orient, Dam Pond in
East Marion, Moores Woods in
Greenport, Goldsmith's Inlet in
Peconic, the vineyards from Southold
to Riverhead, Fort Corchaug in
Cutchogue, Laurel Lake, and
Mashomack Preserve on Shelter
Island. Is there any doubt in anyone's
mind that Barbara and Paul
Stoutenburgh have done more than
perhaps anyone else to create the
atmosphere that has led to the preser-
vation of these incredible natural
resources? We are indeed fortunate to
live in one of the last great places, and
we can bestow Barbara and Paul no
higher honor than to carry on their
life's work — to protect and preserve