Comin’ in Hot! - Controlled Burn at Hempstead Plains - 2026!

As a research partner, managing nest boxes and helping to restore local bird habitat and kestrel populations, S2S had the chance to observe and document a prescribed burn at Hempstead Plains Preserve in Nassau County, Long Island — a hands-on conservation effort that brought together partners from the Town of Hempstead Conservation & Waterways, Friends of Hempstead Plains Preserve, Nassau County, and local fire departments.

Hempstead Plains is unique on the East Coast. It may be one of the last remaining native tallgrass prairie east of the Appalachian Mountains — a globally rare ecosystem that once covered 40,000 acres of central Long Island and now survives on just a few dozen. The preserve protects over 250 plant species, including the federally endangered sandplain gerardia, native prairie grasses like big bluestem, little bluestem, Indian grass, and switchgrass, and rare wildflowers including butterfly-weed and wild indigo. Characteristic grassland birds —  sparrows, swallows, kestrels, hawks, and owls — depend on this open habitat to survive.

Prescribed fire is one of the most powerful tools available to restore this ecosystem. Invasive plants — including mugwort, Chinese bushclover, and encroaching woody vegetation — steadily choke out native species when fire is suppressed. Today’s burn is part of a multi-year restoration effort to enable native species to reclaim this space and thrive here once again.

Check out some of the photos from the project below!