Conservation

Island Center Honors Name of Supporter

Holly Higinbotham

Mary P. Wakeman, a woman who has devoted herself to the cause of conservation on Martha’s Vineyard, was the guest of honor Saturday when Island conservationists gathered at Cranberry Acres to celebrate her 82nd birthday and to start a fund-raising campaign for the Mary P.

Lay of the Land as Seen Through Conservation and Agriculture

Heather Hamacek

On Monday at the Agricultural Hall, farmers and conservationists gathered to talk about ways they can work together to shape the Vineyard's future with respect to the land.

Island Enters Into the Age of Land Bank

Vineyard Gazette

Starting Monday morning, buyers of Martha’s Vineyard real estate will pay two per cent of the purchase price to the Martha’s Vineyard land bank. Tisbury voters yesterday followed the other five Island towns by endorsing the measure designed to raise money for preservation of natural and recreational resources.

The Dukes County commissioners this morning were to appoint one person from each Island town to the land bank commission. The state secretary of environmental affairs will appoint a seventh member.

VCS Celebrates 50 Years of Fighting to Protect the Island

Heather Hamacek

In June 1965, conservationists concerned about development on the Lobsterville moors sent out letters to residents asking them to join the fight “to preserve the natural beauty of Martha’s Vineyard.” Fifty years later, the Vineyard Conservation Society endures, its mission unchanged.

Three Sites Under Study As Marine Sanctuaries in Waters Off Vineyard

Remy Tumin

An Island-based group that includes fishermen, a documentary filmmaker and a world-renowned oceanographer are leading an unprecedented effort to create three marine protected areas in waters south of the Vineyard.

Ramping Up Conservation Efforts Pays Off

Jack Clarke

By the year 2050, Massachusetts needs 52 per cent of the commonwealth to be permanently conserved as open space.

Currently, a quarter of the bay state’s five million acres is developed, a quarter is protected and the rest is up for grabs.

Supreme Court Ruling Hailed as Victory for Conservation

Sara Brown

In a case that has been closely watched by conservation groups on the Vineyard, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled Thursday that a plot of forestland in the Berkshires cannot be taxed.

Supreme Court Tests Whether Conservation Land Can be Taxed

Sara Brown

In Massachusetts, land used by a charitable organization qualifies for a tax exemption under state law. But a recent case in the town of Hawley, now going before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, could have wide implications.

Conservation for Its Own Sake

It would seem self-evident that a key goal of conservation is to protect land from the effects of too much human interference. Certainly that was Teddy Roosevelt’s vision a century ago when one the country’s best-known hunters became its most ardent conservationist.

Reeling in Facts for Striper Conservation

Robert B. Vanasse

In his op-ed Conservation is Essential to Save the Striper (Vineyard Gazette, Oct. 31), author Dick Russell suggests that recreational and commercial fishermen stand at odds when it comes to striped bass conservation. He claims that commercial striped bass fishermen from Massachusetts and menhaden fishermen from Virginia are obstacles in the way of stronger protections for striped bass.

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