Pocasset Pokanoket Land Trust Receives Island Foundation Environmental Grant

The Island Foundation has awarded the Pocasset Pokanoket Land Trust (PPLT) an environmental grant for 2024. The funds will support general operating costs associated with important conservation work in Tiverton, Rhode Island. PPLT will be purchasing sixty-seven acres of ancestral lands in the spring. The majority of this land is historically significant wetlands, serving as an important site during King Phillip’s War. Upon completing the purchase, PPLT intends to create a management plan for Indigenous stewardship. If feasible, trails will be constructed for public access.

The Island Foundation, which was founded in 1979 by W. Van Alan Clark, Jr. and Mary H. Clark., awards Environmental Grants to a variety of initiatives in Southern Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Maine, including those that support working landscapes (sustainable agriculture and community-based fisheries); help local conservation organizations build capacity; and promote environmental justice.

“I want to thank the Island Foundation for their support throughout the years … for funding our Indigenous Peoples Network and PPLT, and our Indigenous Roots Forever programs,” says Chief George Spring Buffalo, Executive Director of PPLT. “These programs provide food, health and the preservation of our culture in indigenous communities. Indigenous Roots Forever is about coming back home to our lands and sustaining the culture of our people.”