The removal of plants and trees from conservation land owned by the Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation for use in a large private landscaping job began some two years ago, according to documents detailing the extent of the damage done by the operation.
A little over 50 years ago, Henry Beetle Hough became concerned that a little parcel of land in Edgartown, where he and his wife Elizabeth liked to walk, might fall prey to land developers.
Mr. Hough, then owner and editor of this paper and an author, used the money earned from sales of one of his books, Once More the Thunderer, to buy the 10 acres which had been known for at least the previous century as Sheriff’s Meadow.
Whether or not the con troversy over tearing down Henry Beetle Hough’s historic house is resolved, there is still a need for the Island to honor the memory of this conservation activist in a way commensurate with his role in preserving our lands, beaches and monuments. Adding his name to the official designation of the Edgartown Lighthouse, perhaps calling it the Henry Beetle Hough Memorial, would accomplish this. Without Henry Hough, there would be no Edgartown light, and generations would be unaware of the beauty and history we now all enjoy.
Colorful cocktail dresses and navy blazers stood out against the dusty brown parking lots of the West Tisbury Agricultural Hall Monday night, as Islanders flocked to honor former Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation president, the late Stephen R. Crampton, at the foundation’s annual summer benefit.
Two Vineyard residents locked in a bitter dispute with the Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation over title to a piece of land in Chilmark can use a tent and keep trailers on the property for now, but cannot do any further clearing or construction, a Massachusetts Land Court judge ruled on Friday.
The Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation has purchased a new property on Chappaquiddick, the conservation foundation announced this week.
The 2.3-acre parcel sits on Manaca Hill, near Chappy Point. Viewed from the Edgartown side of the Chappaquiddick ferry, it is located on the right side of the small island, across the street from the Chappy Beach Club, and abuts the town-owned Gardner property.
Sheriff’s Meadow Executive Director Adam Moore said this week that the foundation purchased the property on Dec. 19 from Virginia Mattern for $100,000.
The Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation has been awarded a $5,000 grant from the Edey Foundation for the creation of an environmental education curriculum at Cedar Tree Neck Sanctuary.
The foundation aims to have the outdoor curriculum completed by Oct. 31 and ready for use in the spring of 2013.
The place names are familiar and unchanging: Wasque, Cape Pogue and Long Point, Herring Creek Farm, Cedar Tree Neck and Fulling Mill Brook, Waskosim’s Rock and Pecoy Point, to name a few.
But the people who admire, use and could potentially contribute to the thousands of acres of land in conservation on the Vineyard have changed, and Island conservation leaders say this is what frames their biggest challenge today.
