In 2001 members of the Biology and Physical Sciences Departments, led by Biology Professor Betsy Gulotta, petitioned and received permission from Nassau CommunityCollege to set aside the last remaining acres of undeveloped Hempstead Plains on Campus as a preserve and to form a nonprofit organization to manage the land.

In 2003 Friends of Hempstead Plains at Nassau Community College was incorporated as a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization which took over the management of the preserve to protect the remaining prairie ecosystem and its rare plant and animal species and to offer education about the plains.

It all started in August 1962, when Nassau County acquired from the federal government 435 acres formerly occupied by the Mitchel Air Force Base, in the heart of the Hempstead Plains, for the purpose of further developing Nassau Community College (NCC). In its earliest days (1959-1962), the college held classes in a wing of the old Nassau County Courthouse in Mineola, NY. In 1962, NCC moved to the newly acquired location at the former Mitchel Air Force Base.

Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum with its expansive paved parking lots was constructed on the Hempstead Plains in 1971-72, and a Marriott Hotel was constructed in 1982.

Aware of the growing encroachment on the precious prairie ecosystem, in 1984 the Nassau County Planning Commission undertook an extensive survey of the social, economic and environmental factors resulting from the development of the Hempstead Plains. In addition, that year, a botanist from the New York State Natural Heritage Program visited the Hempstead Plains parcel and discovered a globally endangered plant, the sandplain gerardia, growing there.

In the course of the study, the Nature Conservancy commented on the value of the prairie ecosystem and noted that “a wide diversity of plant species, many of which are representative of mid-western prairies and some of which are globally rare,” inhabit parts of the Hempstead Plains.

The Long Island Nature Conservancy became interested in the endangered sandplain gerardia and petitioned the College to manage the area. They surrounded the entire nineteen acres with a fence, securing it from encroachment of vehicles and dirt bikes. The Nature Conservancy conducted several controlled burns on the property during their tenure. But by the end of the 1990’s, it became apparent that the College parcel of Hempstead Plains needed more protection and attention.

In 1989, Nassau County passed legislation that designated the County-owned Hempstead Plains as “Perpetual Preservation Land.” The legislation noted that the parcel was “of particular natural beauty, characterized by geological, ecological and environmental significance,” and was a natural resource worthy of preservation for public use.

That’s when Nassau Community College biology professor Betsy Gulotta had the idea to start the process of launching a non-profit organization, Friends of Hempstead Plains, to protect the remaining prairie ecosystem and to use the preserve to offer research and education opportunities.

In 2004, the Nassau County Legislature voted unanimously to approve the dedication of a parcel of the Hempstead Plains as the “Francis T. Purcell Preserve at the HempsteadPlains.”