About Us: Mission

Planning ~ Protecting ~ Preserving

The NLC is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit dedicated to protecting Nantucket’s natural world and rural character by holding and enforcing conservation restrictions, commissioning scientific research, monitoring development proposals, engaging in legal proceedings to protect natural resources, and educating the public on local environmental issues.

Planning

One of the key methods for protecting Nantucket is to be proactive and participate in planning our future. Working to contain the density of people on the Island is central to most other issues, because growth impinges upon the Island's pristine natural resources.

The NLC's Fiscal and Economic Study has shown that fast growth jeopardizes the Island's long-term economic well being, that open space costs the community less than developed land. In particular, taxes on new houses do not adequately compensate the Town for costs of new services and maintenance they require.

Conserving ground water, the sole source of drinking water, demands heightened attention as risks of pollution increase with population density. Also, tourism is the primary local industry, and its success, too, is directly related to extensive and undisturbed Island landscapes.
Therefore, the NLC advocates slow growth and open space preservation at every opportunity. These issues are not unique to Nantucket, however our geography as an island does create unique development pressures. One of our goals is to keep Nantucket from becoming like everywhere else. By providing clear, consistent, pertinent and compelling information for the community to consider, and by insisting that environmental laws and regulations be upheld, we can plan for the kind of future that we want.

Specifically, in order to plan in an effective and engaging manner, we carefully review Town Meeting articles which may affect the environment, and publicly make recommendations in advance of the meeting. We also regularly attend Planning Board, Board of Selectmen, and Conservation Commission meetings and hearings. By having a presence at such forums, we can effectively represent these ideals and steer decision-making accordingly. Finally, planning for the future means educating. The NLC has been expanding our education programs in recent years to include working directly with students at most of the schools on-island. Click here to read more.

Protecting

Monitoring and Advocacy

One of the many roles the NLC fulfills is to act as a watchdog group.  In order to ensure that existing environmental regulations are upheld and that local governing bodies are well-informed, the NLC is constantly monitoring growth and development on Nantucket. We follow development proposals by attending meetings of the Conservation Commission and the Planning Board and we speak out if projects may risk ground water or natural resources such as wetlands or rare species. When neccessary, by collaborating with abutters and aggrieved parties, we effectively defend Nantucket’s natural resources through legal action.

Water Protection

Protecting our natural resources is of utmost importance to the survival of Nantucket’s citizens. In particular, water is Nantucket's most valuable and most vulnerable natural resource. Human activities such as septic discharge, fuel spills, pesticides and fertilizer applications threaten to pollute both our harbors and our precious ground water, Nantucket's sole source of drinking water. The NLC acts as a strict advocate for the protection of water resources. We commissioned a comprehensive water study, and many of the report's recommendations have been implemented by the Town.  For more information on protecting water, visit our Water Protection Page or visit our interactive Nantucket Watershed Map.

Resource Protection Through Research

Research is a valuable tool in the protection of natural resources because it provides concrete evidence and support for environmentally sound policy and planning.

For more than three decades, the NLC has been a leader in ground water research. Our expert consultants often worked hand-in-hand with the Town, and our professional studies have resulted in improved local health regulations and enhanced protection for drinking water. Today, we continue to monitor water quality and hire expert consultants when required.

Native Species Protection

Nantucket is home to a variety of threatened and endangered species and ecosystems, including large tracts of globally threatened sandplain grasslands. The NLC is an active member of the Nantucket Biodiversity Initiative which is working to document and protect native species as well as manage invasive species.

The NLC also participates in The Partnership for Harrier Habitat Preservation, employing controlled burn applications in order to protect habitats from both invasive species as well as potentially disastrous uncontrolled wildfires.

Preserving

Throughout its history, the NLC has used a variety of methods for preserving open space.  Our focus on these different techniques has changed and adapted as we have made tremendous progress in certain areas, while others arise that demand our attention.  To see what the NLC has accomplished in different areas of Nantucket over the year, visit our Land Preservation Map.

Initially, one of the ways the NLC was most effective was by conducting extensive title research.  The NLC founders were offended that a few individuals were converting "owners unknown" land into personal gain.  Therefore, from the outset, the NLC took legal action to shield undeveloped land from dubious claims and to protect it for public benefit.  Much of the NLC's early work was dedicated to this legal action and significant progress was made, allowing us today to focus on the other conservation methods. 

Currently the NLC has just completed its Loring Campaign to preserve 270 acres of land on Eel Point Road by purchasing Conservation Restrictions.  In brief, we negotiate with private owners to voluntarily restrict use of their land and preserve conservation values.  These permanent easement agreements — Conservation Restrictions in Massachusetts — provide public benefits to the community and handsome tax advantages to land owners. 

Successful completion of the Loring Campaign has brougt our total Conservation Restriction land to over 1,000 acres.  Among these, the NLC is proud to hold a Conservation Restriction on 110 acres of farmland on Bartlett Ocean View Farm.  We also hold CRs on numerous smaller, private properties in order to protect natural resources as well as Nantucket's rural character.  Read more about success stories or for more information on Conservation Restrictions, please visit Conservation Options.

Since 1974 the Nantucket Land Council, Inc. has preserved hundreds of acres in the Middle Moors, Plains, Squam and Smooth Hummocks and transferred the land to the Land Bank or Nantucket Conservation Foundation to manage. The NLC was organized specifically to engage in the challenges which sometimes are necessary to defend open space; and, while the NLC takes its ongoing, year-to-year stewardship responsibilities seriously, our long term objective after a property has been protected is to eventually transfer it to antoher organization for management. This allows the NLC to remain focused on its roles in advocacy, education, research, resource protection, planning and monitoring. For more information on other conservation groups on Nantucket and their various roles and objectives, visit our Conservation Partners page.