Environmentally unique and invaluable natural places are not guaranteed to exist forever. It requires time, resources, and the concerted efforts of devoted people to preserve the natural world for future generations and to defend it against those who would bulldoze and develop already-saturated land without a second thought.

This is the history of the trailblazing group that has led just such an effort for the past thirty-five years: an effort to preserve the fragile ecology and natural beauty at the very tip of the East End of Long Island, New York.

Concerned Citizens of Montauk was formed in 1970 as an organized response to block developers’ plans for 1,400 houses near an environmentally important lake and historic Indian burial ground near Lake Montauk. The struggle was successful, and the creation of Theodore Roosevelt County Park was the result.

Over the following decades, CCOM would grow to become one of the most effective citizens’ groups on the East End, saving parcel after parcel of land, preserving clean groundwater and eroding coastlines, and keeping a lid on overdevelopment. CCOM boasts a current membership of over 800 residents, who have (along with their predecessors) helped to preserve two-thirds of Montauk’s land.

This is the inspiring story of the people who worked tirelessly towards this end, of their unlikely successful campaigns waged against powerful entrenched interests, illustrated with dozens of aerial and historical photos of the area.

As Montauk resident Edward Albee writes in the Preface, Holding Back the Tide is a “true ‘how-to’ book for all citizens.” It is a local history of universal importance for all fighting to preserve and protect the natural places in their communities.