Episode 161: Betsy Gulotta and the Hempstead Plains

<p>The Hempstead Plains were once a defining feature of Long Island. Covering some 40,000 acres, the Plains stretched from the Queens border in the west to the Suffolk border in the east, creating a sea of waist-high grass in the middle of what is now Nassau County. Remnants of the Plains still remain, most notably in a 17-acre segment on the campus of Nassau Community College preserved by the Friends of Hempstead Plains.</p> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img class= "wp-image-6771" src= "https://i0.wp.com/www.longislandhistoryproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/IMG_4380.jpg?resize=398%2C299&ssl=1" sizes="(max-width: 398px) 100vw, 398px" srcset= "https://i0.wp.com/www.longislandhistoryproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/IMG_4380.jpg?w=640&ssl=1 640w, https://i0.wp.com/www.longislandhistoryproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/IMG_4380.jpg?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1 300w" alt="" width="398" height="299" data-attachment-id="6771" data-permalink= "https://www.longislandhistoryproject.org/?attachment_id=6771" data-orig-file= "https://i0.wp.com/www.longislandhistoryproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/IMG_4380.jpg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1" data-orig-size="640,480" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta= "{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="IMG_4380" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file= "https://i0.wp.com/www.longislandhistoryproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/IMG_4380.jpg?fit=300%2C225&ssl=1" data-large-file= "https://i0.wp.com/www.longislandhistoryproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/IMG_4380.jpg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1" data-recalc-dims="1" /> <figcaption>Betsy Gulotta standing before the last remnants of the Hempstead Plains on the campus of Nassau Community College.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <p>On today’s episode, Betsy Gulotta, former conservation project manager of the Friends,