The proponents of Beach Within Reach, an initiative that has been analyzing dozens of beaches across the Vineyard to make them more accessible for people of all abilities, celebrated their progress at Jetty Beach Tuesday.
A new report found that Island beaches are not fully accessible, prompting officials to consider ways to make it easier for people to enjoy the Vineyard’s coastline.
Workers have already begun forming new dunes on South Beach’s Left Fork, using dredged sand from Katama Bay and Herring Creek. Both water bodies had filled with sand after December and January’s storms.
After releasing an initial draft of the plan last June, the Trustees spent the year gathering public feedback on topics such as oversand vehicle access, shorebird protections and pet regulations.
On Feb. 13, the town of Edgartown, in partnership with Dukes County and the Trustees, commenced the second phase of restoring the dunes along Norton Point.
With people and vehicles digging into the sand all along the east coast, wild beaches are few and far between. But on the Vineyard, the rare and endangered northeastern beach tiger beetle, a key signifier of uncorrupted beaches, has regained its footing.
The state department of Fishers, Wildlife and Environmental Law Enforcement announced yesterday that it has taken ownership of the Leland beach - 100 acres of virtually unspoiled barrier beach stretching from Wasque to the Dike Bridge on Chappaquiddick.
Purchase price is just under $1 million; the beach, which has been owned by the family of the late Oliver and Edmund Leland since 1907, was purchased through land-taking measures under the state’s eminent domain laws.
