Land Trust

Island Pond by Jack Schneider Island Pond, and the attached Beach Pond, are classified together ecologically as a “Coastal Salt Pond.” However, this was not always so. Historically, this 52-acre pond complex, the second largest in New York State, was separated from the salty ocean water of Block Island Sound

Further Investigation of the Island’s Flora and Fauna by Elizabeth McCance Last summer, we saw the wrap-up of the two-year survey of the Land Trust’s ecological communities and select taxa by the team of scientists from the New York Natural Heritage Program. Their work yielded volumes of information, including not

Helping Our Beech Groves Fight Beech Leaf Disease by Jack Schneider Twice last summer, at the end of May and again in early August, Museum volunteers and staff treated our three American beech groves, applying a phosphorous-based solution that has been shown to help trees fight beech leaf disease. The

Restoring Biodiversity at H. Lee Ferguson, Jr. Wildlife Sanctuary by Jack Schneider Undisturbed natural communities are dynamic, interdependent relationships between plant and animal species that tend towards long-term stability and productivity. Once broken, the restoration of these intricate associations requires planning, work, patience, luck, money, and, above all, leadership fueled

The First Land Conservation on Fishers Island The origin of the Museum’s land conservation efforts can be traced to a meeting on August 2, 1965. On that summer day, Museum President H. Lee Ferguson, Jr., known as “Lee,” proposed to the Board that vacant land be obtained as a sanctuary

Land Trust Report by Bob Miller Winter left a considerable imprint on some of the Land Trust sanctuaries. Rough seas inundated the shore of Beach Pond during winter storms, tossing logs over and inland of the path. The footbridge at the intersection of Beach Pond and Island Pond was thrown off its foundations and

Land Trust Report Spring 2023 by Bob Miller There have been major developments in terms of land preservation and the expansion of our sanctuaries since the Land Trust report in the Spring of 2022. In December 2022, the Land Trust received a donation of a 2.07 acre lot on Brooks