Former Gov. Mario Cuomo was known for his oratory skills and his blue-collar beginnings, but he was known on Long Island for decisions that made a lasting impact.

The former governor and father to Andrew Cuomo died Thursday. He was 82.

Long Island Pine Barrens Society co-founder John Turner said Cuomo was a "good friend to the environment." Currently, the Pine Barrens region is strong and ever-present - the natural gateway to Long Island's East End. But in the 1970s and 1980s, Turner says the region was in danger of destruction, had it not been for Gov. Mario Cuomo.

"If he was not in office, I have no doubt that that entire western section of the Pine Barrens would have been sold off by the state, and it would have been developed for residential and industrial use," Turner told News 12.

The state's 52nd governor signed the Long Island Pine Barrens Protection Act in 1994. He also made a deal to preserve land at what is now the Edgewood Oak Brush Plains Preserve in Deer Park. In addition, he shuttered the $6 billion Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant.

Some of Cuomo's Long Island-based decisions produced mixed results. Back in the 1980s, the former governor created the Long Island Power Authority. Ironically, it was Gov. Andrew Cuomo who signed legislation in 2013 that largely stripped LIPA of its duties and replaced it with PSEG Long Island.

The Cuomo family announced details of the wake and funeral arrangements for former Gov. Mario Cuomo. The wake will be held on Monday at Frank E. Campbell Funeral Home at 1076 Madison Ave. in Manhattan. Funeral services will be held on Tuesday at St. Ignatius Loyola Church at 980 Park Ave. The service will be private.