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The fact that Cedar Tree Neck Sanctuary exists in its present natural state is testimony to the generosity and persistence of many people. Henry Beetle Hough, one of the cofounders of the Sheriff's Meadow Foundation and Allen H. Morgan, at the time the Executive Vice-President of the Massachusetts Audubon Society, orchestrated a fund-raising campaign to buy 100 acres from the Daggett family. The Daggetts, who were only the second family to own the property since 1700, assisted by selling the land at a very generous price, well below market value. At the same time the Hough family donated 70 acres of the family homestead known as Fishhook, including over a quarter mile of shoreline. A gilt of nearly 40 acres in the memory of Alexander S. Reed, which now makes up the bird sanctuary bearing his name, soon followed. Additional gifts and conservation restrictions eventually increased the Sanctuary to its current size of 312 acres. The process is still continuing today, arid through the generosity of its neighbors and supporters Sheriff's Meadow Foundation hopes to expand the Sanctuary even further.
How To Get There:
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Cedar Tree Neck Sanctuary provides excellent examples of the habitats and vistas which make Martha's Vineyard
such a special place. Tumbling streams and freshwater ponds, sandy beaches and rocky cliffs, tall oaks and cool
beech groves all can be found in an easy morning or afternoon walk The one-time visitor to Cedar Tree Neck can
get a sense of the wonderfully varied natural endowment of the Vineyard; the serious naturalist could easily
spend a lifetime pursuing the secrets of the diverse flora and fauna or pondering the geological history which
is written in cryptic form throughout the sanctuary.