East Northport's beautiful nature preserve is getting a second chance. LI Habitat Helpers are on the ground removing invasive plants and restoring the land to a thriving native habitat — including a brand-new butterfly garden.
Invasive species crowd out the native plants that local wildlife depend on for food and shelter. Our volunteers work methodically through Vets Park targeting three of the most aggressive offenders on Long Island: Multifloral Rose, Mugwort, and Japanese Honeysuckle. We've completed multiple large debris removals, cut back years of vine overgrowth to reopen the forest canopy, and replaced dense Mugwort patches with pollinator-friendly native plantings. Every cleared patch is a win for the whole ecosystem.
Alongside the removal work, we are designing and installing a native butterfly garden at Vets Park. Donated plants include milkweed, Blue Vervain, showy goldenrod, Butterfly Weed, mountain mint, and native asters — species chosen to support the full life cycle of local butterflies and moths. It's already working: a Monarch caterpillar was spotted on site during our first season, proof that even small patches of native habitat make an immediate difference.
The Veterans Nature Study Area sits within a rare Coastal Oak Laurel Forest — a regionally significant habitat type that has declined sharply across Long Island due to development and invasive species pressure. Restoring this land isn't just a local effort. It's part of a larger mission to protect one of the most ecologically valuable forest communities on the East Coast.
