I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 263 

To rename the Oyster Bay National Wildlife Refuge as the Congressman 

Lester Wolff Oyster Bay National Wildlife Refuge. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 4, 2019 

Mr. SUOZZI (for himself, Mr. ROSE of New York, Mr. KING of New York, 

Miss RICE of New York, Ms. MENG, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mr. ENGEL, Mrs. 

LOWEY, and Mr. TONKO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To rename the Oyster Bay National Wildlife Refuge as the 

Congressman Lester Wolff Oyster Bay National Wildlife 

Refuge. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 

4 The Congress finds the following: 

5 (1) The Oyster Bay National Wildlife Refuge 

6 was created in 1968. It is located on the north shore 

7 of Long Island in eastern Nassau County, is the 

8 largest refuge in the Long Island National Wildlife 


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•HR 263 IH

1 Refuge Complex, and receives the most public use of 

2 all the refuges in the Complex. 

3 (2) The State of New York designated Oyster 

4 Bay a significant coastal fish and wildlife habitat. It 

5 is especially important for wintering waterfowl such 

6 as black duck, greater scaup, bufflehead, canvasback 

7 and long-tailed ducks. Management activities include 

8 wetland restoration and protection of the natural 

9 shoreline and vegetation. 

10 (3) The refuge is unique in consisting solely of 

11 bay bottom and adjacent shoreline up to the mean 

12 high-tide mark. Ninety percent of New York’s com13 mercial oyster harvest comes from the refuge. Visi14 tors enjoy fishing, wildlife observation, photography 

15 and environmental education. The refuge is truly a 

16 national treasure. 

17 (4) Many visitors are unaware that were it not 

18 for the tireless work and advocacy of then-freshman 

19 Congressman Lester Wolff, this area would today be 

20 an 8.5-mile causeway and bridge across Long Island 

21 Sound between Oyster Bay and Rye, New York, con22 necting Nassau and Westchester Counties. 

23 (5) The bridge was first proposed by Robert 

24 Moses, the well-known New York City Planner, to 

25 divert traffic from New York City. Former Governor 


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1 Nelson Rockefeller signed into law legislation cre2 ating the bridge authorized by the New York State 

3 Legislature in 1967. 

4 (6) Congressman Wolff, elected in 1964, quick5 ly decided the bridge would be an intrusion in a pris6 tine area, and that Long Island Sound was a very 

7 precious resource that was despoiled. The conserva8 tion threats in the mid-1960s were suburban devel9 opment, wetland filling, and industrial pollution. The 

10 fight to preserve this land became an enormous po11 litical fight and is considered to be a turning point 

12 in New York State’s environmental legacy. 

13 (7) With State and local political and commu14 nity leaders, and especially the North Shore leaders 

15 and the Committee to Save the Long Island Sound, 

16 Congressman Wolff arranged a meeting with De17 partment of the Interior representatives and local 

18 leaders where the idea of creating a wildlife refuge 

19 from municipal and privately owned wetlands was 

20 created. 

21 (8) The Town of Oyster Bay, in which one end 

22 of the bridge was to be located, deeded 5,000 acres 

23 of wetlands to the United States to be maintained 

24 as a Federal wildlife preserve. It was stipulated that 

25 if the Department of the Interior agreed to an intruVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:12 Jan 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H263.IH H263

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1 sion of the property, it would revert to the town. 

2 Creating a Federal wildlife preserve provided the 

3 land with Federal protection. 

4 (9) Because of the vision, dedication, and perse5 verance of Congressman Lester Wolff, all of us and 

6 future generations can enjoy the beauty and mag7 nificence of this refuge. 

8 SEC. 2. RENAMING THE OYSTER BAY NATIONAL WILDLIFE 

9 REFUGE AS THE CONGRESSMAN LESTER 

10 WOLFF OYSTER BAY NATIONAL WILDLIFE 

11 REFUGE. 

12 (a) RENAMING.—The unit of the National Wildlife 

13 Refuge System known as the Oyster Bay National Wildlife 

14 Refuge and located near Oyster Bay, New York, shall be 

15 known as the ‘‘Congressman Lester Wolff Oyster Bay Na16 tional Wildlife Refuge’’. 

17 (b) REFERENCES.—Any reference in a law, map, reg18 ulation, document, paper, or other record of the United 

19 States to the unit of the National Wildlife Refuge System 

20 known as the Oyster Bay National Wildlife Refuge is 

21 deemed to be a reference to the ‘‘Congressman Lester 

22 Wolff Oyster Bay National Wildlife Refuge’’. 

Æ 


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