Recently my wife and I plus two of our grandchildren, Noah, age eight, and Natalina, age four, spent a marvelous morning at Priester’s Pond in West Tisbury. It is one in a series of manmade ponds along North Road, eventually emptying into the Tisbury Great Pond. The Mill Pond is the last of the pond series. On our outing we took snacks, chairs plus a can of worms and fishing poles. Noah is already an accomplished freshwater fisherman. Natalina is learning to reel in a fish. Next year she will start casting on her own. Priester’s Pond is a land bank property. The top of the dam is a grassy knoll.

There could not be a finer place in New England for teaching children to fish and appreciate nature. The pond abounds with yellow perch, bluegills and brown bullhead catfish. While we were there we watched two broods of wood ducks, painted and snapping turtles and many species of birds.

How anyone can advocate destroying these ponds is beyond my imagination. Yes these ponds will need maintenance, some such as Mill Pond need it now, the others in the future.

Don’t let the powers that be or the state destroy these incredible wildlife habitats and human recreation areas.

Gus Ben David
Edgartown