Restoring Imperiled Grasslands on Martha's Vineyard

On a warm morning in July, eight volunteers came to The Nature Conservancy’s Bamford Preserve to plant butterflyweed, a native wildflower. Under the guidance of Martha’s Vineyard-based Land Steward Mike Whittemore, the volunteers picked up trowels, pin flags and trays of butterflyweed plugs to plant. The breeze coming off the ocean rippled through the grasses as the volunteers spread out and got to work.

The planting is part of TNC’s larger effort to protect, restore and expand sandplain grassland ecosystems across their range, increasing biodiversity and securing resilient lands in the face of climate change. The habitat supports many rare plant and animal species but is becoming increasingly rare around the world—Martha’s Vineyard is one of the last remaining strongholds.

A History of Conservation on Martha's Vineyard

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. Securing these resilient lands will protect rare plants in the face of climate change, as coastal sand- and silt-based habitats are especially vulnerable. Management of these systems also maintains historical open landscapes and reduces fire risk for Island communities.

TNC is an authority on coastal plain heathland and grassland research and co-founded the Sandplain Grassland Network, a project that pulled together scientists and land managers across the Northeast to create a guidebook for implementing innovative restoration to save this habitat. In 2019, we were awarded a $25,900 grant from the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife with the town of Edgartown to expand and manage Bamford Preserve and nearby high-quality grassland at Katama Plains.

Planting Native Species at Bamford Preserve

The 60-acre Bamford Preserve in Edgartown was once a thriving sandplain grassland before it was converted for agriculture. TNC purchased it in 2007—in the largest land deal on the Island by monetary value—and has been working to restore it for the last 14 years by planting native species like little bluestem grass, butterflyweed and more, while managing the land through mowing and prescribed fire. Beginning in 2007, TNC and the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole conducted research on the best restoration practices for the site. Now, we’re applying what we learned. 

“Since acquiring the land, we have planted hundreds of pounds of native grass seed at Bamford Preserve. Our efforts are beginning to show—the grasses filled in the landscape this year,” says Whittemore. “It’s exciting to see that the research that TNC and partners have done over the years through the Sandplain Grassland Network is supporting our success.”

Summer 2021 marked the second phase of restoration after planting grasses: planting wildflowers. They not only provide pops of color and diversify the landscape, they support native pollinators like monarch butterflies, as well as meadowlarks and many other species. Thanks to the hard work of volunteers and seedlings from Polly Hill Arboretum, 1,000 butterflyweed plugs are now planted along two edges of the Preserve.

Sustaining the Grassland

Over the next few years, these native grass and wildflower species will put down roots and spread across the landscape. However, sandplain grasslands require constant management to recover and persist. To remove the non-native species, Whittemore will conduct regular mowing, as well as controlled burns.

He says: “We expect that a well-timed spring burn will ignite years of seed planted in the soil—fire helps these native species grow and thrive—and reduce the non-native cool season grasses left over from agriculture, really helping to transform Bamford Preserve.”

The hope is that a few years down the line, Bamford Preserve will look like its neighbor, Katama Airpark, one of the best examples of sandplain grassland in the region that is also managed by TNC.

“It’s important to be able to restore the places that could be gone completely if organizations like TNC weren’t able to protect them,” says Sharon Britton, one of the volunteers at the planting. “The pressure to use the land for development is so great and people don’t appreciate that what might look boring is actually what is so essential about the Vineyard.”