The Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank and Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation have teamed up to buy three acres on Sampson’s Hill on Chappaquiddick, marking the second public-private conservation initiative between the two organizations in the past year.
The small purchase has a big outcome, as it completes the cross-Chappy trail network and will allow for miles of uninterrupted hiking on public lands across dunes, hills and coastal woodlands on the small island that lies off the eastern end of Edgartown.
“This is a kernel . . . and what made it work from a conservation perspective is that there was Sheriff’s Meadow Land all around it . . . so you could create this very long-distance trail,” land bank executive director James Lengyel told the Gazette Thursday.
A closing was set for Thursday. The seller is David Ames. The purchase price is $677,625, of which the land bank will pay $386,000 and Sheriff’s Meadow will pay $291,625. Mr. Lengyel said the property had been listed for sale with Katie Donahue of Sandpiper Realty.
A new trail will be created from the property that connects with the Three Ponds Reservation, a large interior land bank property that includes Brine’s Pond and is a central artery on the cross-Chappy trail.
The impending purchase had been announced by Sheriff’s Meadow executive director Adam Moore at the foundation’s annual dinner held last month at Nat’s Farm in West Tisbury.
“We’re thrilled that this property is being conserved,” Mr. Moore said by phone Thursday. “It’s important because of the connection that it makes between two longstanding conservation properties . . . and also the longer cross-Chappaquiddick trail. This is a missing link that brings together conservation planning that has been going on on Chappy for a long time.”
He also credited David Ames, whom he said has donated many acres of land to Sheriff’s Meadow through the years, with his family.
Mr. Lengyel praised the collaborative effort.
“We’re very happy to be partnering with Sheriff’s Meadow . . . and for each organization it is more affordable,” he said.
The land bank joined forces with Sheriff’s Meadow in September 2021 to buy the majority of Red Gate Farm, a sprawling, unspoiled oceanfront property in Aquinnah owned by the family of Caroline Kennedy. That property is expected to open to the public in 2023.
Mr. Moore echoed Mr. Lengyel. “We are delighted to able to collaborate again with the land bank,” he said. “It’s essentially the same model we put into place with Red Gate Farm ... [T]here are many more collaborations we can do in the future.”
Meanwhile, work continues on creating cross-Island trail networks across the Vineyard, Mr. Lengyel said, noting that such networks have long been a goal of the land bank.
Calling it the “green archipelago,” Mr. Lengyel said: “Our aspiration, when all is said and done, is to have a north-south, east-west, coast-to-coast trail.”
“As it happened, the cross-Chappy trail was the very first,” he continued, “and it has a very special place in our hearts.”
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