The shifting sands for oversand vehicle regulations on Chappaquiddick seem to be settling after the state announced new rules for the miles of trails this week.
After years of debate and a plethora of appeals, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection issued a new superseding order that was received by Edgartown officials on Monday.
The order defers to the Trustees of Reservations management plan for the 16 miles of trails that the nonprofit has overseen for decades, as well as rules set by the National Heritage and Endangered Species Program, and means there will be little to no operational changes for the nonprofit.
The DEP’s new order replaces the one enacted by the Edgartown conservation commission and expands on the number of vehicles that are allowed on the trails. The conservation commission in 2024 initially limited the Leland and Wasque parcels on Chappaquiddick to no more than 200 vehicles. Cape Pogue was restricted to 30.
Those limits were appealed by a group of residents and the Trustees. The residents feared they were not restrictive enough and the Trustees felt that they should be looser.
The town later in October 2025 changed the cap to 275 vehicles across Leland, Wasque and Cape Pogue after months of meetings with the Trustees.
The new order falls back to the Trustees’ initially requested 300 vehicles for the Leland and Cape Pogue beaches. The Trustees said it will manage beaches based on space limits, and the two Wasque parking lots are not included in that cap.
The caps were based on past traffic on the trails popular with beachgoers and fishermen, according to the Trustees.
Edgartown conservation agent Kara Shemeth confirmed that the town’s vehicle counts had been overruled, and said that some of the oversight measures that the commission put in place, including mandated check-ins with the commission, were no longer included.
Both the town and the Trustees said they are still digesting the decision, which didn’t lay out specific rules, but instead referred to hundreds of pages of previously submitted documents.
“I don’t think we’ve lost a lot because it references the barrier beach and plover/tern guidelines,” Ms. Shemeth said. “They are pretty stringent.”
In a statement to the Gazette, Trustees Islands director Darci Schofield said that her organization was pleased with the order of conditions that will allow the Trustees to continue to manage the cherished beaches.
The Trustees have long pushed for more flexible rules that allow management to change along with the shifting coastline.
“We are grateful to the many stakeholders who collaborated with us throughout the development and implementation of our Beach Management Plan,” she said. “We appreciate the Department of Environmental Protection’s recognition that our adaptive management approach successfully balances conservation and public access while meeting the requirements of the state Wetlands Protection Act.”
Rachel Self, a Chappaquiddick attorney who has been critical of the Trustees and was the lead in one of the appeals, was also supportive of the ruling from the state, saying they are “a win for oversight, accountability, and the resource itself.”
“They ensure long-overdue oversight of recreational [oversand vehicle] use on beaches managed by The Trustees of Reservations (TTOR) on Chappaquiddick,” she said. “They mark a meaningful and welcome step forward in protecting one of the Commonwealth’s most fragile barrier beach systems.”
As part of the rules, the Trustees must have a qualified shorebird monitor while doing maintenance on the trails between April 1 to August 31. Trails that are not at least nine feet wide need to have fencing. Vehicles are not allowed to drive or park on the dunes outside of those corridors.
The oversand vehicle trails on Chappaquiddick have been controversial and resulted in hours of meetings across several town boards. The new rules could be appealed, but most of the parties seemed pleased with the outcome, including the Martha’s Vineyard Beachgoers Access Group, which has been closely following the proceedings.
“These Superseding Orders of Conditions (SOC) represent a milestone victory and a clear validation of what this community has been fighting for all along: the shared belief that responsible public access and environmental stewardship can—and do—go hand in hand,” the group said in a statement Tuesday.
This article appears in April 17, 2026.
Does this restore OSV access to the lighthouse and the gut?
Why do we allow motor vehicles on beaches?
Because we don’t really care about conserving the beaches. Apparently, it’s more important for people to be able to get comfortably on the beach and bring their whole household with them including barbeques, games, furniture and loudspeakers.