Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank Commission

Name

Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank Commission

Legal name

Martha's Vineyard Land Bank Commission

Website

https://mvlandbank.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1986

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Martha's Vineyard Land Bank Commission is a quasi-governmental agency that acquires and stewards permanently protected open space on Martha's Vineyard, managing 3,000-plus acres across 50-plus properties accessible to the public and funded by real estate transaction fees.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Land Conservation Services

NAICS

Nature Parks and Other Similar Institutions (71219), Nature Parks and Other Similar Institutions (712190), Administration of Conservation Programs (92412)

SIC

Lessors Of Real Property, Nec (6519)

akta.pro primary industry

Land Trusts & Protected Areas (BPAGAGAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Parks, Recreation & Protected Areas Administration (BPAIAMAH), Conservation Easements & Land Trust Services (AFAMAMAH), Conservation & Protected Land Brokerage (Easements, Land Trust Sales) (BPAJADAH)

Keywords

• Land conservation services
• Conservation land management
• Public land access
• Preserve management services
• Conservation real estate fees

Headquarters

HQ city

Edgartown

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Others, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Real estate transaction fees: The land bank collects a fee on the island's real estate transactions to fund land conservation and stewardship on the island. This is the primary revenue mechanism enabling the organization to acquire and manage conserved lands.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Martha's Vineyard Land Bank Commission acquires and stewards conserved natural lands on Martha's Vineyard, providing free public access for passive recreation including hiking, swimming, fishing, birdwatching, and nature study. The organization manages 50+ preserves, reservations, and farmlands spanning 3,000+ acres of coastal dunes, woodlands, ponds, wetlands, and agricultural fields. It is funded primarily through fees collected on island real estate transactions, supported by donations and partnerships.

Product overview

Martha's Vineyard Land Bank Commission is a land conservation organization established in 1986 that manages a portfolio of preserves, reservations, and farmlands across Martha's Vineyard. The organization offers public access to conserved lands for recreation including hiking, swimming, fishing, hunting, and nature study. Key offerings include Ripley's Field Preserve, Squibnocket Pond Reservation, Quenomica Preserve, Aquinnah Headlands Preserve, Sepiessa Point Reservation, Peaked Hill Reservation, and Waskosim's Rock Reservation. The organization also facilitates land transactions by collecting real estate fees to fund conservation efforts, and provides programs for affordable housing, farming, and livestock grazing.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Land Bank: Common shorthand reference used throughout the website and communications

Products and services

• Ripley's Field Preserve A preserve offering multiple recreational activities including hiking, bicycling, cross-country skiing, hunting, horseback riding, nature study, and picnicking for the general public.
• Squibnocket Pond Reservation A 335.7-acre jointly owned preserve with the Sheriff's Meadow Foundation, featuring woodlands, coastal dune, and Atlantic Ocean beach with trail access.
• Quenomica Preserve A 27.4-acre preserve on the Quenomica peninsula offering shoreline access along Meshacket and Wintucket Coves of Edgartown Great Pond.
• Aquinnah Headlands Preserve A 51.1-acre preserve featuring the iconic Gay Head Cliffs rising 100 feet above the Atlantic Ocean, including north and south head areas.
• Sepiessa Point Reservation A 173.7-acre reservation with nearly 11,000 feet of shorefront on Tisbury Great Pond, featuring beaches, grasslands, and savanna.
• Peaked Hill Reservation A 148.9-acre reservation at the island's summit (311 feet elevation) featuring WWII military bunker remnants and panoramic views.
• Waskosim's Rock Reservation A 191.2-acre reservation featuring woodlands, fields, wetlands, and the notable Waskosim's Rock boulder with historical significance.
• Muskoday Farm A 28.0-acre cooperative acquisition with the town of Edgartown conserved for its superior agricultural soils.
• Caleb's Pond Preserve A 3.0-acre preserve providing 175 feet of shoreline access to Caleb's Pond.
• Land Transaction Fee Service The statutory real estate transaction fee collection service that funds land conservation and stewardship on Martha's Vineyard, with downloadable forms for processing transactions.

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Sheriff's Meadow FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSheriff's Meadow Foundation is the land bank's private-sector counterpart and co-owner of the Squibnocket Pond Reservation (jointly owned). The foundation also created the TrailsMV app, the official guide to all public trails on Martha's Vineyard, which the land bank promotes. The two organizations collaborate on land conservation acquisitions across the island.
• Sheriff's Meadow Foundation (Squibnocket Pond Reservation)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSquibnocket Pond Reservation (335.7 acres total) is jointly owned by the land bank and Sheriff's Meadow Foundation. The two organizations share stewardship responsibilities and co-develop public access plans, including future kayak access infrastructure.
• Sheriff's Meadow Foundation (Quansoo Farm)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerQuansoo Preserve includes a circumferential trail around the Sheriff's Meadow Foundation's abutting 150-acre Quansoo Farm, creating an interconnected trail network between the two organizations' properties.
• Sheriff's Meadow Foundation (Cedar Tree Neck Sanctuary)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerChristiantown Woods Preserve serves as a trail node connecting hikers to the Sheriff's Meadow Foundation's Cedar Tree Neck Sanctuary, extending the trail network beyond land bank properties.
• Sheriff's Meadow Foundation (Squibnocket kayak access)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe land bank and Sheriff's Meadow Foundation plan to jointly supply kayaks at the pond edge for visitor reservation and use at Squibnocket Pond, with a southhold kayak landing to be installed in upcoming years.
• The Trustees of Reservations (Short Cove)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerA conservation restriction donation made to the Trustees of Reservations by a neighboring family over their land, combined with the land bank's acquisition, resulted in the complete conservation of the Short Cove of the Tisbury Great Pond.
• The Trustees of Reservations (Long Point Reservation)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDuring shorebird nesting season when Sepiessa Point beach is closed, paddlers are redirected to land at the Long Point Reservation, owned by The Trustees of Reservations, as an alternative landing site.
• Chappaquiddick Open Space CommitteecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerA citizen volunteer group that identifies Chappaquiddick properties worthy of conservation and raises funds to help the land bank protect them. More than $4 million has been donated to the land bank via the committee, including approximately $2.2 million specifically for Toms Neck Farm (representing 40% of the purchase price), plus volunteer creditors who loaned the land bank another 35% of the total.
• Martha's Vineyard Shellfish GroupminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Martha's Vineyard Shellfish Group leases the beach-house at Chappy Point Beach and uses it as a satellite nursery, supplying shellfish spat to seed the island towns' ponds and lagoons.
• Boston Seaman's Friends SocietyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Boston Seaman's Friends Society donated the Sailors' Burying Ground in 2007 to the land bank and the Martha's Vineyard Historical Society, transferring stewardship of the historic cemetery.
• Martha's Vineyard Historical SocietyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-recipient with the land bank of the Sailors' Burying Ground donation from the Boston Seaman's Friends Society in 2007.
• Sheriff's Meadow Foundation (TrailsMV app)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSheriff's Meadow Foundation created the TrailsMV app, a free mobile application serving as the official guide to all public trails on Martha's Vineyard, which the land bank distributes and promotes on its website.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Regional players

• Cape Cod Land Trust: Regional Massachusetts land trust focused on Cape Cod conservation. Operates in a similar coastal, high-value real estate market context with comparable scale of conserved acreage and public-access orientation.
• Essex County Greenbelt Association: Regional Massachusetts land trust protecting farmland and natural areas in Essex County. Comparable nonprofit land trust model focused on conservation, public access, and stewardship of contiguous protected areas.
• Vermont Land Trust: Regional New England land trust with comparable scale and mission to conserve land and provide public access. Operates with a different state-level statutory model but is similar in operational breadth.
• Maine Coast Heritage Trust: Maine-based regional land trust conserving coastal islands and shoreline — directly comparable to the land bank in mission, coastal/island land profile, and recreational public access model.

Broad incumbents

• The Nature Conservancy (Massachusetts Chapter): Largest global conservation NGO with active Massachusetts operations including coastal and island land protection. Comparable in conservation mission, though operates on a much larger scale and without a statutory transaction-fee funding mechanism.
• Trust for Public Land: National nonprofit that works with communities to protect land for public use, including coastal and island conservation. Comparable acquisition-driven land conservation mission and partnership with public agencies.
• The Trustees of Reservations: Massachusetts-wide nonprofit that preserves and operates natural, historic, and cultural sites. The land bank partners with the Trustees on Long Point and Short Cove, and the Trustees serve as a broader conservation incumbent with overlapping mission and comparable holdings.

Direct peers

• Sheriff's Meadow Foundation: Private Martha's Vineyard land trust and the land bank's closest operational counterpart. Jointly owns Squibnocket Pond Reservation, created the TrailsMV app co-promoted by the land bank, and collaborates on island-wide acquisitions — the most directly comparable peer.
• Nantucket Conservation Foundation: Island-based Massachusetts land trust managing conservation land, trails, and public access on Nantucket — directly analogous business model, scale, and operating context to the Martha's Vineyard Land Bank.

Emerging players

• Open Space Institute: Regional conservation organization focused on land protection in the Northeast, including significant work on coastal resilience. Comparable in protecting ecologically significant lands and partnering with public agencies.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/mvlandbank
• Facebookfacebook.com/mvlandbank

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank Commission