The Martha's Vineyard Times

This summer, there are more ways than ever to get out and appreciate the natural world. The Vineyard Conservation Society’s Beach BeFrienders program encourages folks to pitch in and help clean a different Island beach together every month. Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation offers guided walks on its properties. Polly Hill Arboretum presents a jam-packed calendar of speakers on a wide range of topics: oak trees, bats, plant extinction, native plants, and more.

The Trustees and Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary offer weekly activities throughout the summer, such as kayaking, birding, farm visits, and guided property tours. MassDCR is making the Manuel F. Correllus State Forest more welcoming and easier to navigate. Many conservation groups partner with town libraries and other organizations to create multi-layered outdoor experiences to appeal to a wide range of interests and abilities. Creativity and collaboration abound on Martha’s Vineyard!

Check out the Events listing on the free TrailsMV app for details. Get outside and start exploring. Time spent in nature uplifts our physical, mental, and emotional well-being, and a shared love of the outdoors encourages new friendships. Summer on Martha’s Vineyard awaits you!

The free mobile app TrailsMV, which was completely redesigned and launched on July 1, 2022, has been getting a lot of interest. As of this summer, it’s been downloaded 11,286 times – 10,515 on Apple phones and tablets and 771 on Android devices. Haven’t checked it out yet? Click here for more information and to download the app.

TrailsMV covers 220+ miles of public walking trails on more than 100 properties across Martha’s Vineyard and includes:

• Filters to sort properties according to use (and restrictions), such as dogs allowed, accessibility, family-friendly, horses, bikes, and scenic views.
• Trail segment lengths to better gauge distance.
• Events listing of nature-related events and activities
• Informational articles and timely alerts
• Curated excursions
• A user profile page to save favorite trails, properties, articles, photos, etc.
• Instructions on using the app, with Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese translations.
• A resources section with safety tips and helpful links, including one for bus routes.

This year’s improvements to the TrailsMV mobile app are made possible through the generous financial support and collaboration of individual donors, the Island’s conservation organizations, the Martha’s Vineyard Commission, and the six Island towns, with grant support from the Edey Foundation, the Martha’s Vineyard Bank Charitable Foundation, and Cape Cod Five.

Download TrailsMV free from the App Store or Google Play, and follow us on Instagram too.

Three insidious invertebrates are having a dramatic impact on the Island’s woodlands:

The southern pine beetle (Dendroctonus frontalis) tunnels under a tree’s bark and eats the phloem, the fleshy pipeline through which food is passed to the rest of the tree. The beetles are spreading quickly across the Island’s numerous stands of pitch pine (Pinus rigida). Conservation land managers have begun an extensive tree-cutting program in an attempt to slow the beetle’s spread, including in the Manuel F. Correllus State Forest and on properties owned by the Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank and Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation. Phillips Preserve in Vineyard Haven is closed to the public until further notice while tree-cutting and removal is in progress.

 

Beech leaf disease, caused by a foliar nematode (Litylenchus crenatae ssp. mcannii), a species of tiny worm that invades leaf buds and kills the leaves as they unfurl, is wreaking havoc with the Island’s American beech trees (Fagus grandifolia). To date, arborists and researchers have had little success finding an effective and reliable remedy for beech leaf disease. Around the Island, beech trees – beloved for their distinctive, smooth, mottled-gray bark and late-autumn flutter of papery, bright-yellow leaves – are in various states of decline and are expected to slowly die off.

 

While walking Island trails, you may also notice that some beech trees show signs of infestation by the beech blight aphid (Grylloprociphilus imbricator), which forms dense colonies to feed on sap. These aphids, which appear along tree branches as wooly white clusters with dark droppings on the ground below, are less damaging than the nematodes, but they make trees weaker and more susceptible.

Keep an eye out for ticks, too.

Ticks are active year-round. Joining deer ticks and wood ticks out on the trails, meadows, beaches, and woodlands these days are lone star ticks, a relative newcomer with potentially serious consequences. Here’s how to avoid Lyme and other tick-related diseases:

• Learn before you go – read about ticks and how to avoid them.
• Wear light-colored clothing to spot ticks more easily.
• Treat shoes, clothing, and gear with permethrin or an EPA-approved insect repellent. Follow application instructions carefully.
• Avoid wooded and brushy areas, tall grass, beach dunes, and leaf litter.
• Walk in the center of the trail away from vegetation.
• Inspect yourself and companions carefully for ticks afterward.

Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary / Mass Audubon
Mass Audubon invites folks of all ages and from all backgrounds to explore four miles of trails through woodlands, meadows, ponds, salt marsh, and shorelines. Discover 350 acres of beautiful, dynamic landscape and take in the local wildlife that includes more than 100 species of birds. Here are some helpful tips and links if you’ll be visiting us:

• Trails are open from dawn to dusk for your enjoyment.
• Please be mindful of trash and stick to our “Carry in, carry out” policy.
• Members have free admittance. Adults are $4, seniors (65+) and children (up to 12) are $3.
• Kids can enjoy two nature play areas and a butterfly garden.
• Restrooms and water fountains are open.
• Remain on the trails at all times to protect plants, animals, and yourself.
• Dogs are NOT allowed anywhere on the sanctuary.
• Bicycles may use the entrance trail leading to the sanctuary, but no bikes are allowed on the interior trails.
• Upcoming Programs for children, families and adults.

Polly Hill Arboretum
Explore a horticultural and botanical landmark property in West Tisbury.

• The 72-acre property, including 25 cultivated acres, is open dawn-dusk year-round.
• Admission is $5 and Arboretum members receive free admission.
• The Visitor Center, with plants for sale, is open mid-May through mid-October.
• Pets are not allowed at the Arboretum.
• Check our website, pollyhillarboretum.org, for program information and occasional closure notices.

Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation
Founded in 1958, Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation is the local land trust for Martha’s Vineyard, protecting 3,220 acres of land in all six island towns. The mission of Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation is to conserve the natural, beautiful, rural landscape and character of Martha’s Vineyard for present and future generations.

Sheriff’s Meadow maintains public trails for hiking, bicycling, bird-watching, and other passive recreation, offers environmental education programs, leads guided natural history walks and other activities on its 22 publicly accessible properties.

• Leash all dogs at all times on Sheriff’s Meadow properties, and carry out waste.

The Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy is a global environmental nonprofit working to create a world where people and nature can thrive. Over the past 35 years, TNC has helped protect more than 1,500 acres of land on Martha’s Vineyard, with a focus on conserving, managing, and expanding coastal plain heathland and grassland habitat. Island properties include the Hoft Farm Preserve in West Tisbury and David H. Smith Preserve in Edgartown.

The Trustees of Reservations
The Trustees asks that visitors follow these guidelines for the health and safety of all, including wildlife:

• Please keep dogs leashed and away from other visitors at all times.
• Carry out all waste.
• If a parking area is full, please come back at a less busy time.

Long Point Wildlife Refuge: Dogs, horses, and other pets are prohibited at Long Point year-round.

Menemsha Hills Reservation and the Brickyard: Bicycles are not allowed on the trails at these locations.

Mytoi: Bicycles and dog walking are not allowed at Mytoi gardens on Chappaquiddick Island.

Wasque: Biking at Wasque is only allowed on permitted trails. Dogs must be leashed at all times. Swim at own risk as there is no lifeguard on duty.

• Moshup Beach (Part of Aquinnah Headlands)
• Great Rock Bight
• Chilmark Pond Preserve (Atlantic Ocean Beach) 
• Chappy Point
• Edgartown Great Pond Beach (Atlantic Ocean Beach) 
• Hillman’s Point 
• Wilfred’s Pond Preserve 
• Tashmoo Preserve 
• Tisbury Great Pond Beach (Atlantic Ocean Beach) 

Land Bank boat user guidelines for Sepiessa Point Reservation boat launch: 

• All boat ramp and canoe launch users shall practice social distancing. Users should allow appropriate space for users of the boat ramp or launch and clear the ramp immediately when their launch is complete.
•  Users should ensure they are ready to depart quickly from the ramp or dock as soon as their boat is put into the water. Users not actively launching their boat should clear the launch area.
• Upon return to ramp, users should load their boat as quickly as safely possible and then clear the launch area.
• Use of ramps for organized fishing tournaments, derbies, or any other type of gathering is prohibited.
• Loitering on ramps or use of ramps for any activity other than launching boats is prohibited.
• Parking at ramps for activities other than launching boats is prohibited.
• All recreational crafts shall remain a safe distance apart. Tying boats or other crafts together is prohibited.
• All recreational boating is subject to the discretion of local officials, harbormasters, and law enforcement. 
• Boaters may only land at the Land Bank’s Tisbury Great Pond Beach and not at other locations on the pond, which are on private land. Tisbury Great Pond Beach is several hundred yards east of the current cut and is marked with an orange buoy.

The state forest’s 5,300 acres and many miles of trails at the heart of Martha’s Vineyard are open in accordance with the following rules: