EAST HAMPTON, N.Y. – Biologist Kevin McAllister's job is to patrol and protect the waters that surround New York's eastern Long Island (search), which have suffered as a result of suburbanization.
"We're seeing a decline in water quality. historically, the bounty of the bay, the fish stocks that we caught in these bays, we're just not seeing anymore. they're disappearing," McAllister, the Peconic Baykeeper (search), said.
Politicians in the area say the clearing of entire plants of land is enough, and are saying no more to clear-cutting. The East Hampton (search) town council has taken it one step further, expanding a previous ordinance to force nearly all property owners to preserve existing foliage, including trees, bushes, weeds and even dead leaves.
Opponents have called town board members everything from the plant police to Communists running a vegetative state. And some business owners say the town's environmental concerns are just ill-conceived.
Go to the video box at the top of this story to watch a report by Fox News' Todd Connor.
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