Environmentalist Group AMC Trying to Sell Fire Island Cabin, Gets Opposition from Board Members

Environmentalist group, Appalachian Mountain Club, is getting pushback from their board members on their decision to sell its cabin on Fire Island’s Atlantique. The cabin sits on 1.4 acres, has a main house that sleeps 24 and an education center, and it’s the only property in APC’s portfolio that’s 100% run by volunteers. The cabin was donated to the environmentalist group in 1928 and allows members to explore Fire Island’s ecosystems, ocean and bay ecology, lending kayaks, canoes and sailboats to its members.

Members are now opposing the sale of the cabin, which was announced on March 2 without warning or due process. A vote to approve the sale was originally scheduled for March 15 in Boston, where the group’s headquarters is located, but it was pushed back.

John Maier, a sailing program instructor at the AMC’s Fire Island property, said, “The AMC seems to have turned its back on the stewardship of a precious barrier island ecology.” He added, “The programs and experiences available at the Fire Island Cabin are unlike those at any other AMC property. Selling the property will only increase development in this precious ecosystem. It would be a direct negation of the mission of the AMC to turn the property over to private hands, and it would be unconscionable to do so without an open dialogue with the members of the AMC.”

The Fire Island National Seashore, the Littoral Society, Audubon Society and other Fire Island organizations host workshops at the AMC-owned cabin.

After a Change.org petition was created to stop the sale of the cabin, AMC decided to postpone the vote of the sale. “The board instead will use the next year to continue evaluating the use and impact of the cabin as part of the AMC mission while also engaging in further dialog with AMC members,” the group said in statement.

Volunteer manager of the cabin, Cindy Arlinsky, told LIBN they are “pleased” with the postponement of the vote and they “welcome an open ongoing dialogue and hope that members of the board have an opportunity to visit the Fire Island cabin this season so that they can see firsthand why it’s critically important to preserve this property and keep it in the AMC portfolio.”

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