Sweet Water Trust: Recent Grants

Established in 1992, Sweet Water Trust is a foundation whose mission is to support land conservation by awarding grants, owning land, and holding conservation restrictions. In recent years, the Trust has “focused on large, landscape-scale conservation projects, often supported with major, multi-year grants. While we still expect to make a few smaller grants each year, all projects must meet the criteria set out in our grant guidelines. One particularly important requirement is that the land's wilderness qualities be protected by a conservation easement or equivalent permanent legal instrument.”

With assets of more than $25 million, Sweet Water Trust has awarded more than 600 grants, including distributions to:

•  Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissions, $5,000 in 2001, for support of training program for commissioners

•  Orenda Wildlife Land Trust, $5,000 in 2001, toward acquisition of 50-acre Mercy Lowe Property in Mashpee

•  The Nature Conservancy (Massachusetts Chapter), $2,000 in 2002, for support of Massachusetts poll to assess citizen attitudes toward conservation and their willingness to pay for increased land protection.

•  Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies, $10,000 in 2003, for support of a study to develop protocols for ecological restoration of salt marshes on the Lower Cape

•  Massachusetts Audubon Society, $5,000 in 2003, for support of an intern to assist in comprehensive invasive plant survey of Mass Audubon sanctuaries

•  Orenda Wildlife Land Trust, $3,100 in 2003, for support of stewardship and management of the trust's properties

•  Barnstable Land Trust, $15,000 in 2004, toward purchase of 42-acre Furman Property

•  Massachusetts Audubon Society, $5,000 in 2004, for support of a conservation easement training manual

The Cost of Buying Conservation Heaven on Nantucket? $15 Million Dollars

“Property Profile: Rare and Oh, So Special”
The Nantucket Independent, July 9, 2008

NANTUCKET -- Large pieces of vacant land with water views are becoming scarcer and scarcer on Nantucket. So are properties which offer multiple choices for locating a house. So are properties which abut Conservation Foundation land on two sides. So are properties with 1,000 feet of waterfront on one of the island's most beautiful tributaries. And so are properties with a boat house and a grandfathered fixed and floating dock.

The 31-acre tract at 16 Medouie Creek combines the best of Nantucket heath land, tupelo and oak forests and shorefront. ... ©

Read the full property profile.

Barnstable Officials Eye Property at Freezer Point

“Barnstable Officials Eye Property”
Cape Cod Times, July 9, 2008
By Jake Berry

Jake Berry reports that the Town of Barnstable is considering purchasing a 7-acre parcel at Freezer Point that overlooks Barnstable Harbor from a local developer. The town has leased the parcel for six months while it contemplates a purchase, possibly for recreational use. The parcel is assessed at more than $2.5 million and sale estimates have been as high as $5 million.

Related articles:

•  “Town Leases Freezer Point, Set to Negotiate,”
     The Barnstable Patriot, July 9, 2008

•  “Town of Barnstable and Developer Stuart Bornstein Talking,”
     CapeCodToday.com, July 7, 2008

Sale of Historic Murchison Property in Provincetown Pending, Land to be Subdivided

“Murchison Property Sale Pending”
The Provincetown Banner, July 10, 2008
By Pru Sowers

Pru Sowers reports that the sale of the historic Murchison House property in Provincetown is pending and that the land will be subdivided into nine single-family residential lots. The 3.5-acre wooded property has a view of the harbor and had been listed for sale at about $10 million. In September 2007, the trustees of the property were fined $200 for clear-cutting a piece of the property without notifying the Provincetown Conservation Commission.

Barnstable Land Trust Reaches Fundraising Goal, Purchases Baker Property

Congratulations to the Barnstable Land Trust, which purchased the five-acre Baker Property along the Little River in Cotuit on June 27, 2008, after successfully raising the entire $210,000 it needed for the transaction.

After 23 years on the Town of Barnstable’s “watch list,” the property was preserved through a creative private-public partnership that involved funding from the Barnstable Land Trust, the Town of Barnstable, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, a number of private foundations, and more than 100 individual donors.

For more details and to learn how the Baker Property fits into the Town of Barnstable’s 2005 Open Space and Recreation Plan (395 pages, 8.9 MB), please read the announcement on the Barnstable Land Trust’s website.

Lands Protected by Dennis Conservation Trust

The Dennis Conservation Trust, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, has a neat table on its website detailing all of the acreage it has protected from its founding in 1988 through 2006. With 69 transactions comprising a total of 468.5 acres, here’s another way of looking at the table:

Acreage

Upland – 136.7 acres (29.1%)
Wetland – 327.22 acres (69.8%)

More than 25 acres – 3 transactions (4.3%)
10 to 25 acres – 4 transactions (5.7%)
1 to 10 acres – 32 transactions (46.3%)
Less than 1 acre – 27 transactions (39.1%)
Not specified – 2 transactions (2.8%)

Acquisition Type

Gift – 51 transactions (73.9%)
Gift, Purchase – 12 transactions (17.3%)
Conservation Restriction – 5 transactions (7.2%)
Purchase – 1 transaction (1.4%)

The largest parcel preserved by the Dennis Conservation Trust: a 205-acre tract of salt marsh donated in 1994.

The Trust's 2008 Annual Auction is scheduled for July 20, 2008, at the Dennis town green. For details, or to learn more about what the Dennis Conservation Trust has accomplished over the past 20 years, please read the Trust's Summer 2008 Newsletter.

Nantucket Land Bank Buys Four Waterfront Acres

“Land Bank Buys Four Waterfront Acres”
The Nantucket Independent, June 25, 2008
By Peter B. Brace

Peter Brace reports that the Nantucket Islands Land Bank has purchased four-acres of waterfront property. About a half-acre lot with a cottage overlooking Hither Creek was purchased for $1.8 million from Nancy A. Chase, while an adjoining half-acre was donated by her neighbor. (Chase’s sister, Susan Ottison, sold eight acres to the Land Bank for $12.4 million in 2005.) In an unrelated transaction, the Land Bank acquired about 3 acres of “fragile coastal dune habitat” at Dionis Beach for about $900,000.

Summer Newsletter of the Association to Preserve Cape Cod

The Association to Preserve Cape Cod (APCC) has published the Summer 2008 issue of its newsletter, Shore Lines. Contents include:

•  APCC celebrates 40 years of environmental advocacy
•  Nominate a Cape Environmental Champion
•  Cape Cod Bay No Discharge Area designation
•  Protection of Truro campground in National Seashore
•  Environmental efforts in Eastham and Mashpee
•  Farming on Cape Cod endangered

Founded in 1968 by Dr. Herbert E. Whitlock, the Association to Preserve Cape Cod is “Cape Cod's leading environmental educator, advocate and watchdog organization."

Chatham Conservation Foundation’s Bulletin for Spring/Summer 2008

The Chatham Conservation Foundation has published its Spring/Summer 2008 Bulletin. Contents include:

•  The New Federal Farm Bill and Conservation Restrictions
•  Recent Land Acquisitions and Gifts
•  The Chatham Railroad Company
•  Joseph A Nickerson, Jr., Remembered

Founded in 1962, the Chatham Conservation Foundation has protected nearly 650 acres of open space. The Foundation’s 2008 Annual Meeting will be held August 4, 2008, at the Wequassett Inn, Chatham.

Cape Cod National Seashore: a Gem at Risk

“A Cape Cod Gem at Risk”
The Boston Globe, June 22, 2008
By Mike Gildesgame

Mike Gildesgame, Southern New England policy manager of the Appalachian Mountain Club, writes in an op-ed piece that in order to conserve and prevent the privately-held 57-acre North of Highland Camping Area within the Cape Cod National Seashore from being sold to developers, the National Park Service, in partnership with the Trust for Public Land, needs a final $2 million in funding from the federal Land and Conservation Fund. One of the challenges: President Bush’s FY 2009 budget slashed the Land and Water Conservation Fund by 75 percent, providing only $43 million, even though the program is not funded by tax dollars but by lease fees from offshore oil and gas drilling.

For more information on efforts to purchase and preserve the camp area, please read the Association to Preserve Cape Cod's press release of May 5, 2008: "APCC Seeks Federal Assistance for National Seashore Land Purchase."

Town of Orleans, Open Space Committee: 2007 Annual Report

Here’s the Orleans Open Space Committee’s 2007 Annual Report, as it appears in the Orleans Annual Town Report for the Year 2007:

"Open Space Committee -- Approximately 6.45 acres of open space were protected permanently in 2007, through the Town’s purchase of additional holdings from the Sparrow family of South Orleans. The new parcel is located on Namequoit Road, across from John Kenrick Woods, which was acquired from the Sparrow family several years ago. It provides frontage on Arey’s Pond and the Namequoit River and completes a significant wildlife corridor extending from the watershed to the Peck property on the north side of the Namequoit River. This acquisition was the first proposed by the committee since the end of the Land Bank in 2005. Funding for the $1,275,000 purchase came from a grant from the State in the amount of $500,000, mitigation funds from Barnstable County from the development of Skaket Corners in the amount of $540,000 and $235,000 from a debt exclusion vote approved by the voters.

The Committee continued to work closely with the Orleans Conservation Trust and was able to preserve an additional 5.75 acres of land through the placement of Conservation Restrictions on four separate parcels.

Thus, through public and private actions an additional 12.2 acres of land in Orleans were permanently protected.

Comprehensive Plan Implementation -- The Orleans Comprehensive Plan charges the Committee with the primary task of helping to preserve 400 or more acres “using Land Bank and (Town) budget appropriated funding, plus private funding.” Since the formulation of that objective, over 230 acres have been protected or 58% of the 20-year goal.

Major efforts by the Orleans Conservation Trust and the Friends of Pleasant Bay through private fund raising for land purchases and through assistance to landowners to preserve land with Conservation Restrictions made a significant addition to the earlier Land Bank efforts. Completing the remaining 42 per cent of the 400-acre goal is very important but will be considerably more difficult now that the Land Bank funding has been terminated. It is clear that additional conservation restrictions, private donations, joint public/private efforts and zoning changes will play an increased role in achieving the 400 acre objective of the Plan."

For more information about open space in Orleans, please read the town's Conservation, Recreation and Open Space Plan (2006, 110 pages, 10.8 MB).

Sandwich Golf Course Rooted in Green

"A Long Drive”
The Sandwich Broadsider, June 17, 2008
By Paul Babin

Paul Babin details the financial specifics of the town of Sandwich’s purchase and operation of Sandwich Hollows Golf Club. The course, formerly known as Round Hill Country Club, was purchased in 1999 as part of an $11 million land deal that was designed to prevent residential development. Approximately 200 acres were purchased as open space using Cape Cod Land Bank proceeds. About another 250 acres were purchased with a commercial loan, which the town will pay down over the next 20 years through revenue generated by the golf course.

Deadline for Mass Division of Conservation Services Grant Round is July 15th

Originally announced back in April, the Massachusetts Division of Conservation Services (DCS) is conducting its Fiscal Year 2009 grant round for the state LAND (Local Acquisition for Natural Diversity) and PARC (Parkland Acquisition and Renovation for Communities) Grant Programs and for the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund Program. Municipalities are eligible to apply and the deadline for submitting a grant application is July 15, 2008.

Even if your community is not involved in applying for one of the grants, the 24-page PowerPoint presentation and three-page Q&A from DCS’s grants workshop of May 21, 2008, are worth reading.

Also, we note that recent DCS conservation and recreation grants include:

•  Town of Barnstable, FY 2006 Self-Help Grant Award of $500,000 toward a $1.5 million conservation project to protect 13 acres at the Archibald Property

•  Town of Barnstable, Urban Self-Help FY 2007 Design/Early Construction grant of $48,600 and Urban Self-Help FY 2008 Construction grant of $451,400 toward a $1 million renovation project of Bismore Park

•  Town of Barnstable, FY 2008 PARC Urban Self-Help Grant Award of $294,300 toward a $545,000 acquisition of 0.3 acres on Pleasant St. for a park

•  Town of Brewster, FY 2008 LAND Self-Help Grant Award of $500,000 toward a $1.2 million conservation project to protect 10 acres at Stony Brook

•  Town of Dennis, FY 2005 Self-Help Grant Award of $500,000 toward a $1.3 million conservation project to protect 28 acres of the Sears Property at Crowe’s Pasture

•  Town of Dennis, FY 2006 Self-Help Grant Award of $243,000 toward a $450,000 conservation project to protect 4.5 acres of the Welch Property at Crowe’s Pasture

•  Town of Dennis, Urban Self-Help FY 2006 Design/Early Construction grant of $500,000 toward a $3.2 million recreation project at Bass River Park

•  Town of Dennis, FY 2007 Self-Help Grant Award of $500,000 toward a $1.2 million conservation project to protect 6 acres at Paddock Farm

•  Town of Dennis, FY 2008 PARC Urban Self-Help Grant Award of $261,464 toward a $502,815 project at Seaview Playland Park

•  Town of Harwich, FY 2005 Self-Help Grant Award of $500,000 toward a $1.6 million conservation project to protect 14 acres of the Marini Property

•  Town of Orleans, FY 2006 Self-Help Grant Award of $500,000 toward a $1.8 million conservation project to protect 8 acres of the Peck Property at Areys Pond

•  Town of Orleans, FY 2008 LAND Self-Help Grant Award of $500,000 toward a $1.25 million conservation project to protect 6.5 acres of the Sparrow Property

•  Town of Provincetown, FY 2007 Self-Help Grant Award of $177,060 toward a $340,500 conservation project to protect 2 acres at Jimmy’s Pond

•  Town of Wellfleet, FY 2005 Self-Help Grant Award of $94,600 toward a $182,000 conservation project to protect 2 acres at the East End Conservation Property

•  Town of Wellfleet, FY 2005 Self-Help Grant Award of $196,000 toward a $377,000 conservation project to protect 6 acres at Fox Island Marsh

•  Town of Wellfleet, FY 2006 Self-Help Grant Award of $351,000 toward a $650,000 conservation project to protect 4.5 acres at Whale Bone Point

•  Town of Yarmouth, FY 2008 LAND Self-Help Grant Award of $250,000 toward a $500,000 conservation project to protect 3 acres at Dennis Pond

Stop & Shop Project in Hyannis Includes Four Acres of Open Space

“Hyannis Stop & Shop Project Approved"
Cape Cod Times, June 13, 2008
By Patrick Cassidy

Patrick Cassidy reports that the Cape Cod Commission approved a proposal to relocate the Stop & Shop store from Independence Drive to Route 132. Pending approval by Barnstable town officials, the project, which consists of a new store, parking lot, and connector road, will consume twelve acres of land. However, as a form of mitigation, the developer "has agreed to purchase a four-acre parcel on Route 28 and give it to the town for open space and a planned bicycle path."

Federal Land in Madaket on Nantucket Declared Surplus, to be Sold

"Fed Land in Madaket Declared Surplus”
The Inquirer & Mirror, June 12, 2008
By Jason Graziadei

Jason Graziadei reports that the U.S. General Services Administration has declared 100 acres of federal land in Madaket on Nantucket to be surplus property. The land, assessed at $12.6 million and zoned for residential development, will be sold in the near future. The town of Nantucket has expressed interest in the site as a potential location for a wastewater treatment facility. Meanwhile, several conservation organizations, including the Nantucket Conservation Foundation, are interested in protecting the property as open space.

Nantucket Field Station Has Rich History

“Finding Yourself and the Island at the Field Station”
The Nantucket Independent, June 11, 2008
By Peter R. Brace

NANTUCKET -- Students who survive one of Dr. Sarah Oktay's intense, 90-minute lablecture fieldwork sessions at the University of Massachusetts' Nantucket Field Station off Polpis Road are rewarded with a peek inside her eerie Freezer of Death. ...

The field station still plays host to graduate students performing research, but is also open to the public 365 days a year from dawn until dusk for exploration of its trail system, salt marsh and beaches. ...

The field station opened in 1969 ... In May of 2004 ... the Nantucket Conservation Foundation committed to purchasing the 110-acre property including its buildings, 40-acre salt marsh, 2,000 feet of harbor beach frontage, meadows, upland shrub habitat and large freshwater pond for $22 million. ... ©

Read the full article in The Nantucket Independent.

Bass River Park in Dennis Seeks Community Support for Grant

“Park Committee Seeks Community Support for Grant”
The Register, June 9, 2008
By Nicole Muller

WEST DENNIS -- In early July, the Bass River Park Property Use Committee will present its application for a Parkland Acquisition and Renovations for Communities (formerly Urban Self-Help) grant of up to $500,000 to the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. ...

Dennis residents who supported the land purchase and look forward to its development into a scenic vista along the Bass River are encouraged to write letters sharing their enthusiasm for the project. ... ©

Read the full article in The Register.

Also, read about the Dennis Conservation Trust’s Bass River 2008 Summer Kickoff party to celebrate the Bass River Park. The party, scheduled to be held on Saturday, June 28, 2008, will feature a boat tour of the river.

Lands Protected by Yarmouth Conservation Trust

The Yarmouth Conservation Trust has posted on its website a neat property inventory detailing all of the acreage it has preserved from its founding in 1986 through 2006. With 35 transactions comprising a total of 219.4 acres, here’s another way of looking at the list:

Acreage

   Upland – 102.61 acres (46.7%)
   Wetland – 116.79 acres (53.2%)

   More than 25 acres – 3 transactions (8.5%)
   10 to 25 acres – 2 transactions (5.7%)
   1 to 10 acres – 15 transactions (42.8%)
   Less than 1 acre – 15 transactions (42.8%)

Acquisition Type

   Gift – 25 transactions (71.4%)
   Conservation Restriction – 10 transactions (28.5%)

The largest parcel protected by the Yarmouth Conservation Trust: a conservation restriction secured in 2000 on a 53.87-acre tract of old cranberry bogs known as the “Hospital Bogs.”

Founded in 1986, the Yarmouth Conservation Trust “preserves open space to protect woodlands, water, wildlife habitats, and scenic views throughout Yarmouth.” One of the more interesting features of its website is the detailed biographies of its Board of Trustees.

Mashpee Accepts State Conservation Restriction on Purchase of 80 Acres

“To Close Land Deal, Mashpee Accepts State Restrictions”
Cape Cod Times, June 3, 2008
By Stephanie Vosk

MASHPEE -- The 80 acres off Route 130 that Mashpee voters agreed to buy this spring may be open to the public in about a month.

Town officials are working with the St. Vincent's Home Corp. to close on the $3.1 million sale. ...

... voters went ahead and approved a $2.1 million debt exclusion ...

To cover the additional cost, the town will use $500,000 in Community Preservation Act funding and another $500,000 from the state Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, which comes with a conservation restriction. ... ©

Read the full article in the Cape Cod Times.

Related articles:

•  "Mashpee Passes $2.1M Debt Exclusion,”
     Cape Cod Times, May 11, 2008

•  “Mashpee Residents Spurn Official Advice,”
     Cape Cod Times, May 6, 2008

•  “Did we say $2.1M? We meant $2.6M,”
     Cape Cod Times, April 25, 2008

Cape Cod National Seashore Clashes With Wellfleet Over “Billboard” House

“Wellfleet: ‘Damn the Torpedoes Full Speed Ahead’”
Cape Cod Today, May 31, 2008
By Peter Robbins

WELLFLEET -- Despite the Town and Seashore torpedoes, the billboard house slowly vanishes a section at a time to most the feelings were "good ridden's." The owners, the Blasch family, with a legally issued demolition & building permit are moving forward. Why? Because they have every legal right to. ...

... what still bothers me is the standing of the National Seashore when it comes to these projects. There seems to be an inherent conflict between the Seashores position on the issues and the jurisdiction of the town of Wellfleet. ...

The NPS priority is raising the remaining balance of the $6,000,000.00 purchase of the 58 acre North of Highlands Campground in N. Truro. A tremendous undertaking and worthwhile project for the Park. ©

Read the full article in Cape Cod Today.

Related articles:

•  “Wellfleet: The People Have Spoken,”
     Cape Cod Today, May 23, 2008

•  “No More Delays in Blasch Project,”
     Cape Cod Today, May 14, 2008

•  “'Billboard’ House Draws Crowd at Appeals Hearings,”
     The Provincetown Banner, May 8, 2008