Seth Wakeman was elected president of the Vineyard Conservation Society at an organization meeting held at the West Tisbury Congregational Church Wednesday evening. The name of the society supersedes the tentative name, Friends of the Island, adopted in early stages of its formation. A change had been asked by the Friends of Tisbury, with which some confusion would be likely.
Vice presidents were elected as follows: Edgartown, Dr. George C. Matthiessen; Oak Bluffs, Mrs. Donald A. Roberts; Gay Head, Mrs. Theodore L. Howell; Chilmark, Albert O. Fischer Jr.; Tisbury, Dixon B. Rencar; West Tisbury, Arnold M. Fischer. Richard H. Pough will serve as treasurer. A secretary and directors will be named later.
Public Meeting Aug. 26
A public meeting, to which all interested persons are invited, will be held at the Edgartown Methodist Church at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 26. Charles H. W. Foster, commissioner of the state Department of Public Resources, will be the speaker.
Membership in the society is open to all interested persons, and the membership fee, on a flexible basis, may be as little as $3 a year.
Bruce Blackwell, former chairman of the conservation councils of the state of Rhode Island, now a year-round Vineyard resident, will be employed as a full time director.
The statement of purposes adopted by the meeting, attended by some twenty-five members, is as follows:
1, To serve the interests of every individual and group who wish to safeguard the particular character of Martha’s Vineyard. This unique character can and should be preserved. It is important to the Island’s citizens and visitors, to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and to the United States. Many individuals have helped to maintain it over the years, singly and in various local groups. Their efforts have been manifold and in large measure successful.
Growing pressures for change, more powerful than any this Island or the nation has ever known before, now threaten the continued success of these efforts. They can be strengthened by coordination and consolidation, and by vigorous widespread support.
2. To see that long-term growth and development is beneficial. Growth is not only inevitable and desirable but depends in great part on the maintenance of the unusual assets of the Island which have brought settlers to it for several centuries. The natural geography, richly endowed with seashore, inland ponds and farmland, is largely unspoiled, encouraging respect for land and waters and permitting serenity and peace.
Lack of commercial exploitation allows large vistas to remain undeveloped. There is absence of billboards, unattractive tourist developments, and other indications of overcommercialization. It is as much a haven for people who appreciate the quality of a place where nature dominates as it is for wild birds and animals.
Pressures Toward Change
3. To keep citizens informed of proposed changes and their effect so that changes in keeping with the Island’s character can take place in an orderly, predetermined fashion. Drastic change in the social scene of the 1960’s has no precedents. Its pressures cannot be countered by traditional methods. The massive population explosion, increase in leisure time with accompanying longer weekends and vacations, rise in income with more money for travel and recreation and swift improvement of transportation—on highways, waterways, airways—combine to transform the countryside.
Towns and villages that have had one character for many decades have been altered almost overnight. Even the briefest survey of the nation shows that where there is a laissez-faire policy, change comes, welcome or not.
If the Vineyard responds to these pressures as other communities have —unwittingly, unprepared and unaware of the consequences—it will lose much of its cherished quality and unique assets. People who come to the Island because of them will move away, others will not consider it as a haven. Land now particularly valuable because of the Island’s character will eventually depreciate, after a quick profit for a few, to the level of the usual summer tourist place, as it has in many other areas. The danger is particularly critical now, when large pieces of land all over the Island are becoming available. An informed and enlightened citizenry can prevent destructive forces and exploitation.
Key Areas Can Be Preserved
4. To make a continuing study of the Island’s important lands and waters to determine where conservation efforts might be fostered. Large key areas can be preserved consistent with logical economic growth. Development must be scrutinized in its impact and significance to the Island’s natural beauty as well as to its potential economic effect on residents.
5. To encourage growth that will enhance the character of the Island. Proper development of real estate properties conserves and protects natural sanctuaries as it encourages growth and develops economic assets. It safeguards fishing and shellfishing possibilities. Understanding what the opportunities are will enhance the character of the Island. It will bring to it a population as dedicated to the maintenance of present values as those now in residence.
6. To support the organization’s purposes with every possible means appropriate to its non-profit structure, and urge the cooperation of every citizen in its efforts. A specific program to carry out the general purposes herein stated will be developed at the will of its membership. As new proposals are made, each will be considered on its merits, a decision made and appropriate action taken.
Membership in this tax-exempt organization is open to all interested persons. To expedite its program, the organization has employed a full-time director who is a trained conservationist and year-round resident of the Island. Membership fees pay the director’s salary and the organization’s expenses.
This article appears in August 20, 1965.