Inventory & Monitoring at Sagamore Hill National Historic Site

Black and white photograph of Theodore Roosevelt holding an oar, standing on a rowboat
Old photo of Theodore Roosevelt on a rowboat. NPS Photo

A Little Context

Sagamore Hill National Historic Site is the home of our 26th president, Theodore Roosevelt. Located on the peninsula of Cove Neck on Long Island, New York, and nestled between Oyster Bay and Cold Spring Harbor, Sagamore Hill is an expanse of farmland, oak-chestnut-tulip forest, and salt marsh. Roosevelt purchased it in 1883. After selling part of it to relatives, he built a large country house overlooking the water at the top of the hill. His family later sold off more acreage until Sagamore Hill became the 35-hectare parkland we see today.

Sagamore Hill’s 20-hectare forest makes up much the park, despite having experienced an onset of chestnut bark disease and significant tree loss. Together with Eel Creek salt marsh, the easternmost forest was designated by Congress as a “Natural Environmental Study Area” in the early 1970s. Since Roosevelt’s time, the areas around Sagamore Hill have developed into fragmented suburbs. With it, invasive species – including Japanese and Norway maples, English ivy, wisteria, and tree of heaven – have encroached into parklands, posing a challenge to park management.

Our Work with Sagamore Hill

Sagamore Hill is the cultural heritage of a man and president who appreciated and cared for nature. To ensure the park’s natural resources are well-managed and protected, the Northeast Coastal and Barrier Network, along with Sagamore Hill staff, collects ecological monitoring data for a number of ecosystem vital signs. Learn about our work below.

What We Monitor

Monitoring Reports

Last updated: January 11, 2022

Tools