The Trustees of Reservations will start selling over-sand vehicle (OSV) permits for Chappaquiddick starting May 1.
The price for the Cape Poge Wildlife Refuge and Wasque OSV permit is rising for the first time since 2017, up from $200 to $250. The permit includes vehicle access to Cape Poge and Leland Beach, along with free parking at Wasque — which is new this season.
Also new this year, pedestrians and bikers will be able to get free access to beaches on Chappaquiddick and at Long Point Wildlife Refuge, which the Trustees says is in line with its decarbonization efforts.
The Trustees is also working with Beaches Within Reach, a group promoting better access at Vineyard beaches. Long Point will feature fully accessible kayak and transfer benches, and Wasque will include a floating beach wheelchair and a coconut fiber Mobi-mat.
Funding from the permit sales supports beach operations, conservation efforts, and access maintenance.
“The Trustees is one of the largest managers of publicly accessible beaches on Martha’s Vineyard. Our places are for everyone, forever. We are creating new and diverse opportunities to visit our beaches,” said Darci Schofield, the Trustees’ director for the Islands. “We hope all will feel they belong here, and gain more understanding on the importance of protecting the beach ecosystem. New this year, we are offering free admission for folks walking or bicycling to our beaches at Long Point and Chappaquiddick. Additionally, we are thrilled to partner with Martha’s Vineyard libraries to offer a vehicle entry pass for free beach parking that library patrons may check out to enjoy a day at the beach.”
The “All-Over Martha’s Vineyard” OSV permit includes Cape Poge Wildlife Refuge, Leland Beach, Wasque, and Long Point, and provides a Contributing Level Trustees membership. The cost of the “All-Over Martha’s Vineyard” OSV permit is $380 this year.
OSV permits can be purchased online at thetrustees.org/program/mv-osv-permits.
As a permanent resident on Cape Pogue, my hope is that nobody but me and my family gets to use the beaches on Chappy. But that all the citizens of Edgartown will contribute to pay for the maintenance of Dike Bridge and the cost of emergency and other town services to my palatial estate er i mean modest family home.
Gordon,
Have not heard much from you since the early 1970’s
Public access to a public beach should not be complicated. It should never require the involvement and assistance of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, the Massachusetts Department of Marine Fisheries and the Massachusetts Land Court. Unfortunately, a select group of egregiously entitled Cape Poge landowners have forced taxpayer resources to be squandered in defense of their exasperating pursuit of converting a public beach into a private playground. Ultimately, these baseless attempts at beach theft will exist only in fantasy, but they can serve a purpose – to be studied as an historic monument to hubris.
Comments are closed.