Field Notes

DOG DAYS OF SUMMER

It has happened to many of us. You're hanging with your family and friends on the beach and someone's dog, not leashed as it should be per Nantucket's leash law, comes bounding through your space spraying sand, knocking over drinks and sullying food. Or, you're walking along the beach and step right into something special left by these errant dogs. Or, the roving canines pick fights with your own well-behaved pug or retriever.

Got something you want to get off your chest about Nantucket's wild beach dogs? The Beach Management Advisory Committee will hold a public meeting on Aug. 9 at 4 p.m. in the conference room at the Nantucket Islands Land Bank offices at 22 Broad St. to listen to your concerns on dog issues at Nantucket's beaches. If you want to know more, call BMAC member Maureen Beck at 228- 2186.

BLACK

FISH

LANE SWIMS FREE

Developer John Keane's 14-lot Black Fish Lane residential subdivision on 8.5 acres at 36 Burnell St. got the Planning Board's approval at its July 23 meeting.

The board voted 3-2 to approve the project that fostered an unusually amicable working relationship between the developer and neighbors of the proposed development in what is a rural neighborhood filled with property owners who want to keep it that way. Working with Keane, the neighbors were able to keep the width of the road down to 18 feet with grass strips on either side for walking paths, the number of lots with secondary dwellings down to six, and the road surface chip seal.

At the July 23 meeting, Keane asked for, and the board allowed, a chip seal sidewalk instead of brick, as it is more in keeping with the country feel of the area.

DO-IT-YOURSELF CONSERVATION

If Linda Loring's philanthropic gesture got you all aquiver over doing a conservation restriction on your island property, now is the time to do it. The island's conservation organizations urge all property owners from those just thinking about it to those who have committed to the idea to contact them.

Because federal tax laws that benefit property owners who put conservation restrictions on their land are in danger of expiring at the end of this year, time is literally of the essence. Currently, this federal legislation, enacted in 2006, increases the maximum deduction property owners can take for doing conservation restrictions on their land from 30 percent of their adjusted gross income annually to 50 percent. It also allows farmers and ranchers to deduct up to 100 percent of the adjusted gross income and raises the number of years that property owners can take deductions from six years to 16 years.

Confused? Contact the Nantucket Land Council, Inc. at 6 Ash Lane at 228-2818 and they'll explain it all to you. The Land Council is responsible for more than 1,000 acres through 61 conservations restrictions.

WHERE ART THOU BUOY?

U.S. Rep. Bill Delahunt's office announced this week that there is $250,000 in the Commerce Department appropriations bill for a weather buoy that would be located in the middle of Nantucket Sound - the very same waters where Cape Wind is proposing to build a wind farm.

Delahunt's chief of staff, Mark Forest, said the initiative came from the Steamship Authority, fishermen and sailors who want an aid to navigation during inclement weather. Forest has not speculated on the exact location of the buoy.

The House is expected to vote on the appropriations bill soon.