Udalls Cove group celebrates a golden milestone
Northeast Queens conservation group marks 50th anniversary with coastal area cleanup
BY JENNA BAGCAL
The Udalls Cove
Preservation Committee
(UCPC), one of the oldest
conservation groups
in Queens and Long Island,
will be hosting its 50th Annual
Wetlands and Woodlands
Cleanup event next week.
On Saturday, April 13,
members of the UCPC along
with local leaders will gather
at Aurora Pond in celebration
of half a century of “CPR” —
conservation, preservation
and restoration — of the
underdeveloped wetlands and
wooded uplands in the Udalls
Cove watershed.
State Senator John Liu,
Assemblyman Ed Braunstein
and Councilman Paul Vallone
and Queens Borough Parks
Commissioner Michael
Dockett are expected to join
the cleanup effort. The annual
meeting and cleanup are also
opened to individuals who are
not UCPC members.
The event begins with a
meeting on Sandhill Road,
known to locals as the “Back
Road” and cleanup efforts will
immediately follow. According
to the organization’s President
Walter Mugdan, the cleanup
event invites participants to
“think globally, act locally.”
Volunteers should wear
long pants and sturdy shoes
or boots.
Each year, UCPC volunteers
collect enough refuse to fill
a 30-cubic yard dumpster
to the brim. The majority
of trash consists of plastics
items including drink bottles,
shopping bags, discarded toys
and food containers. Last year
the organization reportedly
disposed of more than half a
dozen old air conditioners that
had been intentionally dumped
from the adjacent street.
“None of the
accomplishments we’ll be
celebrating at this 50thanniversary
event could have
been achieved without the strong
and steady support of residents,
local civic associations and
environmental groups,
elected officials and our
A scene from the 2018 Udalls Cove cleanup.
Photo courtesy of Udalls Cove Preservation Committee
partners in the New York
City Parks Department with
whom we’ve had a great
working relationship for five
decades. We thank them all!”
Mugdan said.
For the past 50 years, the
organization has worked
to conserve and preserve the
underdeveloped lands at Udalls
Cove — which is the eastern
arm of Little Neck Bay, part
of Long Island Sound. UCPC
has successfully preserved 98
percent of the approximately
117 acres of remaining salt
marsh, freshwater wetlands,
and wooded uplands as public
park space and has been
working on acquiring the last
few privately owned acres.
Mugdan has worked with
the UCPC since the 1970s due to
his proximity to the cove and
his love of the environment.
Growing up, Mugdan recalls
playing at Udalls Cove Park
and formed his environmental
interest in junior high school.
He has served as the UCPC
president since 2002.
The 50th Annual
Wetlands and Woodlands
Cleanup event is on
Saturday, April 13 starting
at 10 a.m. Volunteers will
meet at Sandhill Road
before cleanup efforts
commence. UCPC will
provide trash collection
bags and work gloves for
the cleanup efforts of the
shoreline, the wetlands and
the woodlands.
Participants are then
invited to join in a free
picnic lunch at Memorial
Field in Douglaston starting
shortly past noon.
For more information,
contact Walter Mugdan at
718-224-7256. Those interested
can also visit the UCPC
website and Facebook page.
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