Supporters of the Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation gathered Monday night at the Borggaard farm in West Tisbury for a gala to benefit the foundation's general fund and the organization's mission to preserve and manage natural habitats on the Island. The event raised more than $320,000.
At the end of a long dirt road in Chilmark, a huge white tent arches above the meadows at Quansoo Farm. Inside the tent is the historic Mayhew-Hancock-Mitchell House, under renovation since last year.
Jesse Ausubel, director of the Program for the Human Environment at the Rockefeller University in New York city, will deliver a lecture at the Old Whaling Church in Edgartown on Tuesday, July 8, at 7:30 p.m.
Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation is applying this year for accreditation from the The Land Trust Accreditation Commission, a lengthy process involving information gathering and documentation.
The decision ends a bitter dispute over ownership of a three-acre parcel of land in Chilmark. Nisa Counter and Benjamin Ramsey bought the lot on Blue Barque Road in 2010 from a family member. Sheriff’s Meadow said the land was part of a 10-acre parcel gifted by the late C. Russell Walton.
Come summer, visitors can admire the old ice pond from new viewing platforms and walk around the pond towards John Butler’s Mudhole on new boardwalks as Sheriff's Meadow gets makeover.
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.
The foundation bought the 1.7-acre property on Nov. 19 for $35,416, a press statement said. The seller was the family of Josephine Smalley Vanderhoop. The purchase will help conserve rare habitat, Sheriff's Meadow said.
Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation is the local land trust for the Island of Martha’s Vineyard. Our mission is to conserve the natural, beautiful, rural landscape and character of Martha’s Vineyard for present and future generations. We are governed by a board of directors which represents the year-round and seasonal communities of the Island. We own 2,000 acres of conservation land across the Island, including land in each of the six Island towns. We protect another 850 acres of land with conservation restrictions.
