Long Island Central Pine Barrens

Long Island Central Pine Barrens
Location of the Long Island Central Pine Barrens
Location	New York, United States
Nearest city	Manorville
Coordinates	40°50′53″N 72°47′38″W / 40.84806°N 72.79389°W / 40.84806; -72.79389Coordinates: 40°50′53″N 72°47′38″W / 40.84806°N 72.79389°W / 40.84806; -72.79389
Area	100,000 acres (400 km2)
Established	1993
Governing body	Central Pine Barrens Joint Planning and Policy Commission

The Long Island Central Pine Barrens (also known as the Long Island Pine Barrens) is a large area of publicly protected pine barrens in Suffolk County, New York, on Long Island, covering more than 100,000 acres (405 km²).

The Barrens operates in a similar manner to Adirondack Park, with public lands managed by a mix of federal, state, county and local public land managers intermixed with private inholdings.

It is Long Island's largest natural area and its last remaining wilderness. The region contains a remnant of the Atlantic coastal pine barrens ecoregion, whose forests might once have covered a quarter million acres (1,000 km²) on Long Island.

The Central Pine Barrens overlays and recharges a portion of a federally designated sole source aquifer for Long Island's drinking water. All of Long Island's drinking water comes from ground water wells; none of the island's water comes from reservoirs. Almost all of the Peconic River and Carmans River (two of Long Island's four biggest rivers) as well as much of their watersheds are in the Barrens.

In the 1970s the State of New York began acquiring large parcels to create a greenbelt. The federal government at Brookhaven National Laboratory transferred 2,300 acres (9 km²) in 1971 and RCA transferred 7,200 acres (29 km²) around Rocky Point in 1978 (for a cost of $1).

In 1984 the Pine Barrens Review Commission was created to review development in the region. In 1986 the Suffolk County Open Space Program financed by a 0.25% sales tax was to result in 28 new Suffolk County Parks in the region totalling 4,600 acres (19 km²)