State Forest Gets Help
By JOSHUA SABATINI
The Department of Environmental Management's Division of
Forests and Parks has begun to implement a new management plan
for the 5,000-acre Manuel F. Correllus State Forest.
Concerned about the risk of forest fires, DEM, the state
agency responsible for managing the forest, has focused its
energies on clearing firebreaks or "safe zones" on the land's
perimeter and interior, a plan discussed for several years.
Edgartown selectmen this week affirmed the use of fire as a land
management tool as long as members of The Nature Conservancy continue to
work closely with the town's fire chief.
Joel R. Carlson, a fire manager for The Nature Conservancy, came
before the selectmen to answer concerns about the risk of setting fires
in wooded areas. The meeting was attended by representatives of the town
conservation commission and the Manuel F. Correllus State Forest.
Herring Creek Farm, the storied and richly diverse Great Plains farm
in the rural coastal perimeters of Edgartown, is now set to be sold for
a record price to an eclectic group that includes two nonprofit
conservation organizations and two private buyers.
In a move that is expected to knock down many established barriers to the land protection movement, The Nature Conservancy announced this week that it will buy and put into private conservation 103 acres of land along the Edgartown Great Pond. The property just last year was planned for a private luxury golf club.
Formerly owned by Katharine and Robert Bigelow, the property stretches from Meetinghouse Way to the Kanomika Neck shore of the Great Pond fronting Mashacket Cove, and includes a large expanse of globally rare sandplain grassland.
A large parcel of land along the Edgartown Great Pond, which is now planned for an 18-hole golf course, was the subject of a legitimate and equivalent offer for purchase from a prominent and well-funded conservation group about 18 months ago, the Gazette has learned.
