These days, it seems like everything we took for granted as normal is getting cancelled, closed or postponed due to COVID-19. From a socio-economic perspective, it is apparent that this coming summer will be nothing like recent seasons here on Nantucket. For those of us who love nature and the outdoors, the ongoing rhythm of…
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Getting outside and enjoying Nantucket’s natural world is a great way to do something enjoyable while practicing safe social distancing! The Foundation’s properties are open from sunrise to sunset. We have put together a self-guided property exploration that will introduce you to some of our conservation lands, teach you a few unique things about each…
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Within the next few weeks, the Nantucket Conservation Foundation will be initiating a project to remove non-native, invasive Japanese black pines (Pinus thunbergii) within a 2.03-acre management unit in the Middle Moors along Altar Rock Road, immediately to the northwest of Altar Rock. This work will improve habitat for rare plant, invertebrate and animal species,…
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As we get ready to celebrate the holidays and close out 2019, we would like to take a moment to commemorate the Foundation’s upcoming 56th anniversary. On December 28th in 1963, a group of Nantucketers met at the home of W. Ripley Nelson, who was then the President of the Nantucket Civic League. They came…
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The Nantucket Biodiversity Initiative (NBI) just held its 8th Biennial Biodiversity Research Conference from November 1-3, and the Foundation’s Science and Stewardship Department staff ecologists were active participants in this collaborative effort. The NBI is a partnership of nonprofit organizations (including the Foundation), academic institutions, government agencies, businesses and individuals that formed in 2005 with…
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We are very excited to have a Nantucket High School (NHS) senior, Lily Bartlett, volunteering for us approximately 8 hours per week for the entire school year as part of the School-to-Career program. This is the first time that the Foundation has mentored a student in this capacity. School-to-Career is part of a national program…
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by: Karen Beattie, NCF Director of Science and Stewardship The Nantucket Conservation Foundation’s Board of Trustees recently decided to retire cranberry cultivation on our Windswept Bog property (on Polpis Road) in order to pursue a watershed level wetland restoration project. These plans were covered in the Nantucket Inquirer & Mirror (our local newspaper on Nantucket,…
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by: Karen Beattie, NCF Science and Stewardship Department Director Nantucket has experienced an uncommonly wet growing season so far this year. The abundance of rain has produced lush and verdant vegetation across the island that is persisting into the recent hot and dry weather conditions more typical of summertime on the island. Take a walk…
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Nantucket’s sandplain grasslands are upland plant communities unique to this region of North America. Once common along the northeastern seaboard, residential, and commercial development and succession to shrublands has all but eliminated these habitats from other coastal areas from Long Island, New York to coastal Maine. It is currently estimated that between 85-98% of the…
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One of the frequent calls we get at the Foundation’s office during the fall, winter and early spring involves questions about the firebreak management work we are doing on our properties. Why are we cutting down the shrubs? Where will we be cutting next? Will we eventually be cutting down everything? The level of interest…
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