Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation on Vineyard Halts Native Plant Removal

"Sheriff’s Meadow Halts All Native Plant Removal On Foundation Property"
Vineyard Gazette, May 23, 2008
By Mike Seccombe

MARTHA'S VINEYARD -- The Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation this week issued a public apology and launched an overhaul of its land management practices following the revelation that large numbers of trees and other plants had been dug up from two of its preserves and used to landscape an exclusive private property on the North Shore. ...

The land trust, which was founded in 1958 by the late editor of the Gazette, also has terminated its previous handshake agreements with local landscapers, which have allowed them to take small numbers of plants from foundation land in exchange for help in maintaining that land. ...

The two foundation properties, the Caroline Tuthill Preserve in Edgartown and the Priscilla Hancock Meadow in Chilmark, were left damaged by heavy earth moving equipment brought in by contractors hired to landscape the 30-acre property of Dirk Ziff near Lambert’s Cove in West Tisbury. ... ©

Read the full article in the Vineyard Gazette.

Related article: “Native Plant Stripping Violates State Law,” Vineyard Gazette, May 16, 2008