A shared baseline
An Island-wide inventory of significant trees and forest cover would allow communities and the Martha’s Vineyard Commission to understand what is being lost across the Island over time, not just parcel by parcel.
FVF’s Proposed Island Forest Framework
Martha’s Vineyard’s trees and forests cross property lines, town boundaries, watersheds, and habitat corridors.
FVF supports a shared framework for evaluating consequential tree-loss decisions using evidence, proportionality, public accountability, alternatives, cumulative Island-wide effects, restoration, maintenance, and monitoring.
This is FVF’s proposed approach. It is not presented as binding law or an adopted government policy.
Five Questions Before Major Tree Removal
What do these trees provide now?
Before work begins, explain how the trees help the site and the community. This may include shade, wildlife habitat, cleaner air, carbon storage, soil protection, rainwater absorption, and public use.
Why is tree removal being proposed?
Clearly explain what problem the project is trying to solve and what evidence shows that removing trees is necessary.
Can the goal be met with less tree removal?
Consider whether a smaller area, different location, phased work, selective cutting, better maintenance, or another option could protect more trees while meeting the same goal.
What are the long-term effects, and what happens next?
Consider how this project adds to tree loss across the Island. Explain what will be restored, who will do the work, and how the site will be cared for over time.
How can the public take part and see the results?
Share clear information before a final decision. Give the public a real chance to comment, explain the final choice, monitor what happens, and publish the results.
Public Process
When it comes to decisions that will impact the health and wellbeing of the Island as a whole, the public process must be inclusive, transparent, and allow for meaningful participation.
Climate and Watershed Awareness
The Island’s trees and forests are doing important work—storing carbon, managing stormwater, cooling and cleaning the air, providing habitat, and recharging the aquifer through soil infiltration. Decisions about mature trees and forests should account for these services, especially as the Island faces the accelerating pressures of a changing climate.
Review EvidenceIsland-Wide Inventory, Standards, and Incentives
A tool for regional review
FVF supports a quantifiable, consistent way to evaluate cumulative tree and habitat loss in projects subject to regional review.
Residential clearing and cumulative effects
FVF is concerned about the removal of trees, brush, and understory from residential properties for lawns, pools, and other development. A single property alteration may seem relatively small, but repeated clearing across many properties can have a meaningful cumulative Island-wide ecological impact.
An Island-wide tree ordinance
This cumulative effect is one reason FVF supports stronger Island-wide standards and advocates for an Island-wide tree ordinance that considers protections for public land alongside the broader residential landscape.
Education and incentives for landowners
Educational outreach can help property owners understand the ecological, public, and financial value of mature trees and make tree protection a more visible and practical choice.
Public Land & CPA
The Community Preservation Act helps Massachusetts communities fund open space, historic preservation, recreation, and community housing. All six Martha’s Vineyard towns participate in the CPA.
FVF supports evaluating the ecological value of public land before major alterations are approved, particularly where CPA funds are involved.
FVF supports ecological baseline assessments before land clearing begins on public parcels using CPA funds.
FVF supports clear accounting of CPA expenditures that affect natural resources, so the public can evaluate whether the conservation purpose of the program is being honored.
Relationship to the Island Plan
The Island Plan provides regional context for FVF’s proposed Island Forest Framework. FVF draws particularly from its treatment of forest conservation, groundwater protection, and Vineyard character.
The Plan informs FVF’s approach, but FVF’s proposed framework and advocacy positions remain its own.