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Our Natural Resources - Protection is Now! SINCE THE FIRST stages of Nantucket's land boom, which began with the end of World War II, the inroads into the natural resources of our island have been steady and devastating. The past two decades have accentuated the problem, especially evident with the demand by those who want more land to develop, ignoring the basic premise that what they acquire is now serving as the destructive force which threatens the future of Nantucket as well as their private interest. When the first settlers established an agricultural community on this island they recognized the land as their major asset. Raising sheep, herding cattle, tending farms, they cared for the land, carefully arranging for its protection by forming a corporate body called the Proprietors of the Common and Undivided Land of Nantucket. Then came the recognition that the sea was to become their future means of livelihood. The old town of Sherborn was transferred to the Great Har bor and a seaport created. With the success of whaling a century of steady growth marked the success of Nantucket's seafaring people. The Proprietors continued to control the out-lying land, however, until the infamous "set-off" of the second decade of the 19th century, when certain wealthy Nantucketers were granted large areas of the land for private development. The Proprietors objected, but the Supreme Court of Massachusetts arbitrarily supported the overambitious petitioners and the opening wedge was forced. With the collapse of whaling, attention was diverted to the laun ching of another economy - the "Summer Business". The influx of sum mer visitors in the decade which followed the Civil War, brought atten tion to the construction of buildings within the town for the accom modation of the summer visitors. New homes appeared on the Cliff and Brant Point; the waterfront improved; 'Sconset took on a new lease on life; and such public services as a water supply system, electricity, telephone and street lighting came into being. The twentieth century was marked by continued steady progress in the development of the "summer business", but little growth occurred in the out-of-town land. A few houses were erected along the north shore, and at established places such as Wauwinet, Quidnet and Madaket, but there was no building boom. Then, with the aftermath of World War II, there was a swift turn in the events. The outlying land became the outstanding attraction for the developers. Stretches of sheep commons, heath land, salt marsh and bayberry thicket were sought; the shores all around the island were
