 The FWS has credited other organizations, public and private, with helping it to fulfill its goals for the refuge.The former is represented by its state-level counterpart, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC), which has shared data with it, participated in the planning process and works with local communities to protect wildlife habitat.Among the latter, the local and state Audubon Society chapters advocated strongly for the area's protection, since the society had declared the airport site an Important Bird Area in 1998.