The Trustees of Reservations has announced that The FARM Institute, a beloved and established Martha’s Vineyard based nonprofit, has become its newest reservation. The Trustees is Massachusetts’ largest conservation and preservation nonprofit and the world’s first land preservation nonprofit celebrating its 125th Milestone Anniversary this May. The Trustees currently owns and operates six other properties located on the island, including Cape Poge Wildlife Refuge, Wasque, Long Point Wildlife Refuge, Menemsha Hills, Mytoi Gardens and The Brickyard. It also manages and operates Norton Point Beach for Dukes County.

As an official new reservation of The Trustees, The FARM Institute will continue offering the same, dynamic year-round and summer camp and school-based programs, as well as the robust livestock operation island residents and visitors have grown to love and support over its last 11 years of operation. As part of The Trustees it will receive the added benefits of a new endowment created by both organizations, as well as access to additional stewardship and program engagement resources to ensure the organization’s continued success, growth, and longevity for years to come. Both organizations have been working toward the steps needed to complete the integration since March of 2015. The FARM Institute was established in 2000, has a decade long success story of providing year-round, farm-based educational programming, including a dynamic camp that attracts nearly 1,000 children from all over the country each summer who are interested in learning about agriculture. Thanks to the foresight and contributions of so many island residents, concerned neighbors, community members and supporters, The FARM Institute has been integral in protecting the historic Katama plains property with its rich legacy of farming from development.