    [United States Statutes at Large, Volume 134, 116th Congress, 2nd Session]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    Public Law 116-110
    116th Congress

    An Act

    To rename the Oyster Bay National Wildlife Refuge as the Congressman
    Lester Wolff Oyster Bay National Wildlife Refuge. <>

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
    United States of America in Congress assembled, <>
    SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
    (1) The Oyster Bay National Wildlife Refuge was created in
    1968. It is located on the north shore of Long Island in eastern
    Nassau County, is the largest refuge in the Long Island National
    Wildlife Refuge Complex, and receives the most public use of all
    the refuges in the Complex.
    (2) The State of New York designated Oyster Bay a
    significant coastal fish and wildlife habitat. It is especially
    important for wintering waterfowl such as black duck, greater
    scaup, bufflehead, canvasback and long-tailed ducks. Management
    activities include wetland restoration and protection of the
    natural shoreline and vegetation.
    (3) The refuge is unique in consisting solely of bay bottom
    and adjacent shoreline up to the mean high-tide mark. Ninety
    percent of New York's commercial oyster harvest comes from the
    refuge. Visitors enjoy fishing, wildlife observation,
    photography and environmental education. The refuge is truly a
    national treasure.
    (4) Many visitors are unaware that were it not for the
    tireless work and advocacy of then-freshman Congressman Lester
    Wolff, this area would today be an 8.5-mile causeway and bridge
    across Long Island Sound between Oyster Bay and Rye, New York,
    connecting Nassau and Westchester Counties.
    (5) The bridge was first proposed by Robert Moses, the well-
    known New York City Planner, to divert traffic from New York
    City. Former Governor Nelson Rockefeller signed into law
    legislation creating the bridge authorized by the New York State
    Legislature in 1967.
    (6) Congressman Wolff, elected in 1964, quickly decided the
    bridge would be an intrusion in a pristine area, and that Long
    Island Sound was a very precious resource that was despoiled.
    The conservation threats in the mid-1960s were suburban
    development, wetland filling, and industrial pollution. The
    fight to preserve this land became an enormous political fight
    and is considered to be a turning point in New York State's
    environmental legacy.
    (7) With State and local political and community leaders,
    and especially the North Shore leaders and the Committee

    [[Page 7]]

    to Save the Long Island Sound, Congressman Wolff arranged a
    meeting with Department of the Interior representatives and
    local leaders where the idea of creating a wildlife refuge from
    municipal and privately owned wetlands was created.
    (8) The Town of Oyster Bay, in which one end of the bridge
    was to be located, deeded 5,000 acres of wetlands to the United
    States to be maintained as a Federal wildlife preserve. It was
    stipulated that if the Department of the Interior agreed to an
    intrusion of the property, it would revert to the town. Creating
    a Federal wildlife preserve provided the land with Federal
    protection.
    (9) Because of the vision, dedication, and perseverance of
    Congressman Lester Wolff, all of us and future generations can
    enjoy the beauty and magnificence of this refuge.
    SEC. 2. RENAMING THE OYSTER BAY NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE AS THE
    CONGRESSMAN LESTER WOLFF OYSTER BAY NATIONAL
    WILDLIFE REFUGE.

    (a) Renaming.--The unit of the National Wildlife Refuge System known
    as the Oyster Bay National Wildlife Refuge and located near Oyster Bay,
    New York, shall be known as the ``Congressman Lester Wolff Oyster Bay
    National Wildlife Refuge''.
    (b) References.--Any reference in a law, map, regulation, document,
    paper, or other record of the United States to the unit of the National
    Wildlife Refuge System known as the Oyster Bay National Wildlife Refuge
    is deemed to be a reference to the ``Congressman Lester Wolff Oyster Bay
    National Wildlife Refuge''.

    Approved January 27, 2020.

    LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--H.R. 263:
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    HOUSE REPORTS: No. 116-228 (Comm. on Natural Resources).
    CONGRESSIONAL RECORD:
    Vol. 165 (2019):
    Nov. 20, considered and passed
    House.
    Vol. 166 (2020):
    Jan. 9, considered and passed
    Senate.