A Vineyard wild flower sanctuary, where native plants, flowers and shrubs will be planted and protected, under conditions which will allow the general public to see and enjoy them, is in the process of becoming a reality at Christiantown. Mrs. Wilfrid O. White of Vineyard Haven, president of the Martha’s Vineyard Garden Club, has been given permission, and some financial aid, by the county board, with which to pit her plan into operation on the county-owned land adjacent to the Indian burying ground on this historic spot, and the initial survey has been made by Will C.
With the recording of an agreement and declaration of trust last week, the Vineyard Open Land Foundation, first proposed in the Gazette of April 17, became a reality.
The agreement and declaration were signed by 12 original trustees: Jerome B. Wiesner, Mary P. Wakeman, Anne P. Hale, Herbert E. Tucker Jr., Robert E. Simon Jr., Edward J. Logue, Hans F. Loeser, William M. Honey, Henry Beetle Hough, Kevin Lynch, James F. Alley and Joseph G. Kraetzer. The eventual board will number not more than 21.
George M. Moffett Jr., widely known as a yachtsman and conservationist, signed an agreement last week by which Felix Neck, more than 200 beautiful acres of widely varying terrain extending into Sengekontacket Pond, will be conveyed to the Massachusetts Audubon Society as a wildlife sanctuary. Part of the acreage is transferred immediately, and the balance will be leased to the Audubon Society until the gift is completed.
In a friendly but eloquent mixture of encouragement, advice and warning to the whole Island, Secretary of the Interior Steward L. Udall formally dedicated the colorful clay cliffs of Gay Head as a National Landmark on Saturday afternoon.
Letters have gone out to a number of Vineyarders seeking support for a new organization devoted to preserving the natural splendors of the Island. The organization is a committee of the Natural Area Council Inc., and its letter is self-explanatory:
“An organization is in process of formation under the name, Friends of the Island. Its purpose is to preserve the natural beauty of Martha’s Vineyard. If it is to accomplish its goal it will need the support and cooperation of all segments of the Vineyard community.
The Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation figures this year for the first time in the list of tax-exempted property in the town of Edgartown. The property so designated is the old ice pond known for generations as Sheriff’s Meadow Pond, and the land immediately around it, now assured of preservation for all time in its present native state.
Prominent conservationists announced yesterday that they have acquired Barnard’s Inn Farm, a 60-acre parcel of land in West Tisbury that is highlighted by the arboretum created by Mary Louisa (Polly) Hill.
The property is important for several reasons. The farm is considered a key element in the rural stretch in the north part of town. It links several important pieces of conservation land.
