The Trustees of the Reservations have been awarded grants from the Massachusetts Division of Fish and Wildlife for projects at the FARM Institute in Katama and Long Point in West Tisbury. The ultimate source of the grant money was an allocation of capital funds from the Baker-Polito administration, James Burnham, a Fish and Wildlife program coordinator, said.
For Long Point, the Trustees will receive $21,720 for the restoration of frost-bottom and sandplain habitat, Marion Larson, Fish and Wildlife chief of information and education, said. In Katama, the Trustees will get $25,127 to restore sandplain habitat, she said. Burnham said the Trustees will be reimbursed for restoration work. They won’t get money up front. And they need to have the whole thing wrapped up by the end of June. At Long Point, the Trustees will mow and brush-cut some 60 acres in order to get rid of unwanted vegetation, and restore grasses and scrub oak habitat, according to Chris Kennedy, Vineyard stewardship manager for the Trustees. Harriers and various moth species, among other fauna, will benefit from the work, he said. In Katama, a band of brush resembling a hedgerow will be removed, improving the land for grasshopper sparrows and bluestem grasses, he said.
Going forward, he said, the Trustees are considering acquiring a goat herd, like the Land Bank has done to clear and maintain certain Vineyard reservations.
