Resolution to Permanently Protect the Ashley Schiff Preserve

WHEREAS, Ashley Schiff was a popular professor of political science at Stony Brook University from 1965-1969; and  

WHEREAS, Professor Schiff was an early conservationist and expert on the politics of forest management and once, famously chained himself to the tallest conifer on campus upon learning that a bulldozer was about to remove it; and   

WHEREAS, Professor Schiff died suddenly and unexpectedly in the fall of 1969, shocking the Stony Brook community and prompting students to organize an appropriate memorial for their beloved professor; and 

WHEREAS, the students proposed, and then-President John Toll committed the University to, the creation of a 'forever wild' preserve on the southern part of campus, in Professor Schiff's name; and   

WHEREAS, since that time, an area of approximately 20 acres has been known as the Ashley Schiff Preserve, has been maintained in its natural status and has been the subject and focus of numerous research and environmental projects undertaken by members within and without the Stony Brook community; and    

WHEREAS, the university recently engaged surveyors to mark the boundaries of the Preserve, and now attach the resulting survey and metes and bounds description to this resolution; and   

WHEREAS, the university seeks to officially state the boundaries of the Ashley Schiff Preserve, designate the space as 'forever wild' and officially record the name as the "Ashley Schiff Nature Preserve"   

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE STONY BROOK COUNCIL, THAT: 

The 19.09 acre area designated on the attached survey map and metes and bounds description will forever be known as the Ashley Schiff Nature Preserve and will continue to be maintained as a preserve.   

The Stony Brook Council authorizes Chair Kevin S. Law to transmit this resolution to the Board of Trustees of the State University of New York.  

May 6, 2024