To the editor:

With neither fanfare nor trumpeting, at the regularly scheduled July meeting of the Little Compton Agriculture Conservancy Trust (LCACT), George Mason passed on the leadership of the Trust to Bill Richmond.

The LCACT is celebrating its 30th year in 2016 and George Mason has been a trustee for 20 of those years, including 17 as chairman. Bill Richmond has been on the Trust for over 12 years. The two of them have devoted themselves to the preservations of farmlands, wetlands and open spaces in Little Compton, spending endless hours for the good of the Little Compton environment. The results of 30 years of the LCACT efforts have been extraordinary: in conjunction with no fewer than five other conservation-oriented groups, over 24% of Little Compton’s lands are now preserved.

The LCACT is a creation of several far thinking devoted conservationists including our friends Paul Suttell, Tack Eddy, and Roger Greene. Over the years, community-minded individuals have quietly served on this Trust, such as the present trustees: Wayne Montgomery , Ellie Fields, Ed Maiato and Mike Steers. The way the founders set up the Trust was to have individual trustees represent different viewpoints related to land use. By Trust rules, the board members include a farmer, members from the planning board, from the conservation commission, from the recreation commission and four at-large trustees.

George Mason is a very private and reserved individual who has quietly done so much for the Little Compton community, leveraging his unique position in the halls of Rhode Island government in Providence. He has been able to maximize the funds received by the Trust with matches from state, federal and private sources. While about $10 million has been created by the sale of properties over the 30-year period, much more than double that amount has been expended. George is the reason for this. Locally, Bill has worked tirelessly with potential donors and with the intricacies of negotiating property purchases.

Similar to land trusts all over the country, as the LCACT reaches its 30th year and properties change ownership, increased efforts and attention are required for stewardship and easement monitoring. Locally, a prime example of this is the Trust’s easement enforcement efforts related to the Sakonnet Vineyard. In conjunction with the Trust’s responsibilities in this area, earlier this year, the Town Council established new noise level restrictions and new curfews limits for public events. The LCACT, which co-owns the deed to development rights at the vineyard with the Rhode Island Agricultural Land Preservation Commission and the Natural Resource Conservation Service division of the US Agricultural Department, has been working with these partners to resolve a variety of issues. These efforts are ongoing.

During the winter, it was pointed out to the Trust that the exemption for the transfer tax had not been increased for several years. The local concern was to make sure that affordable land and housing was available in Little Compton. When the Trust reviewed this issue, George and Bill rejected the suggested increase which was from $150,000 to $250,000 and, instead, moved the exemption up to $300,000, effective 1 July 2016. That happened.

That is a mid-summer 2016 update. The meetings of the LCACT are posted every month and are open to the public. This is a transparent group. We are working to improve our weak website. If anyone wants to write in, our recording secretary is the very able Cheryl Cady, who has held that job for 15 years.

David Wechsler

LCACT trustee and secretary

Little Compton