Creek Defender Program
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Defend Our Creeks!
The Great South Bay will only be as healthy as the creeks and rivers that flow into it. There are some 50 creeks that flow into the bay along the 16 communities along the South Shore. The Creek Defender Program calls upon people in each of those communities to become local stewards, healing our creeks as we heal the Bay. They are led by a Creek Defenders who acts as a local steward, organizing and guiding their communities, leading cleanups, habitat restoration projects, and native planting initiatives. They spread our message that our care for the Bay begins on the land, and the quality of that water entering the bay
Meet Our Creek Defenders
“Defending our creeks has to be fun, educational and rewarding for everyone involved. There is so much more that can be done and we are only scratching the surface so far…..people WANT to help, our role is to organize it all.”
Tom Kain
Creek Defender Co-Chairperson
He is a lifelong lover of our oceans, sounds, beaches, bays, canals, lakes, ponds, rivers and creeks. He grew up in Babylon, swimming, skating and fishing in Sumpwams/Shore Road canal, Southards Pond and Argyle Lake and spent many childhood summers in Peconic living in a cottage on the bluffs of the LI Sound. He and his wife once lived in Friday Harbor, WA in the San Juan Islands of the Puget Sound.
Tom’s four sons and daughter were all Jones Beach Junior lifeguards and three of his sons are presently NYS Ocean lifeguards. A 1984 graduate of Babylon High School, he also attended SUNY Stony Brook and Suffolk Community College – where his favorite course was Oceanography taught by Ken Ettlinger. Tom has worked for TD Bank for almost 15 years and is a senior residential loan officer. All his family loves our beaches, they love to fish, surf, bodysurf, boogie board, kayak and paddleboard and enjoy all of the NY ocean beaches that are probably the finest in the country.
Dr. James Bertsch
Creek Defender Co-Chairperson
Dr. James Bertsch’s mission is to enhance community involvement by fostering civility and inquiry in public discourse. As a YMCA board member and twice-elected trustee for Sayville Schools, his civic and political focus centers on coalition building. James spearheads diverse community events, engaging over 300 people and 15 organizations in initiatives such as veteran gravestone restorations.
As a trustee for the LT Michael P. Murphy Navy SEAL Museum, he aims to inspire local devotion to Michael Murphy’s legacy and integrate the Navy SEAL Museum into community life. With a background in education, James served as a Special Education administrator, founded the Greater Sayville Civic Association, and directs local initiatives for Save the Great South Bay. Committed to community advocacy, he contributes environmental and civic stories to various publications, including Newsday, Suffolk County News, and the Long Island Press.
Massapequa
Don Nedbalsky
Amityville
Dennis Siry
Copiague
In partnership with Venice Civic Assoc.
Lindenhurst
West Babylon
Babylon
West Islip
Bay Shore
Tom Kain
Islip
in partnership with Keep Islip Clean
Great River
Ron Gibbons
Sayville
Bayport
Blue Point
Patchogue
Jennifer George
Brookhaven
In partnership with CEED
Mastic Beach
Paddle Tribe
Data Collection
Water Quality Testing
Volunteer
Map Of Long Island Tributaries
Photo Gallery
More About Creek Defending
Bayport Junior Civic Cleans Up
Reporting in from Bayport: On Sunday, April 10th, Bayport Creek Defender Bob Draffin was joined by the Bayport Bluepoint Junior Civic Association for a great local clean up along the Bayport waterways. They collected nearly 350 pounds of debris and one of the kids...
West Islip Cleans Up Sampawams Creek
On Saturday, March 19th in West Islip, a group of more than 40 volunteers shrugged off the forecast and successfully cleared trash from several locations along Sampawams Creek. Budding environmentalists from West Islip High School performed testing the 'A Day In The...
Teaming up with Keep Islip Clean on Pardees Creek
On Sunday, March 27th, the Save The Great South Bay Creek Defenders teamed up with Keep Islip Clean for a cleanup in a small section of Pardees Creek where it goes under Spur Drive. A small crew worked well at this clean up as there wasn't much space along the creek...
Brown’s River Spoils Site Set to Decimate Native Forest
While Save The Great South Bay, 501(c)3 understands and supports the need for emergency dredging along the Brown’s River for safety and navigational purposes, we must express our opposition to the removal of the long established Red Maple Swamp Forest on the southern...
Champlin Creek Champions
On the cold, blustery morning of Saturday, November 27th, Save The Great South Bay partnered up with Keep Islip Clean to conduct a clean up at the headwaters to Champlin Creek. Champlin Creek is one of the 50 creeks across the South Shore that lead into the Great...
A Swell App To Measure Debris
Want to help us collect data on debris? There's an app for that. The Clean Swell app. At Save The Great South Bay, we are firm believers in the age old adage of you can't manage what you can't measure. Starting in 2021 and in collaboration with the Ocean Conservancy,...