THE TERRAPIN INSTITUTE
November 16, 2005
Dear Tylerton Lease Holder:
The Terrapin Institute is disappointed that our bid for the
Tylerton boat harbor was not accepted.
We understand the decision of the Commissioners and hope there will be
another opportunity for us to work in Somerset
County. After the bids were awarded at the November 15, 2005 meeting of the County
Commissioners, I requested the
opportunity to explain and discuss our proposal and bid for the boat
harbor. A copy of our October 29, 2005 bid and cover
letter is attached. We want to make
sure the watermen and citizens know the truth about our organization
and our interest in the Tylerton harbor. The Terrapin Institute is a
private non-profit organization established in 2003 to preserve abundant
populations of terrapins and tidewater habitats. The Tylerton boat harbor is a tidewater
habitat which we thought was in urgent need of preservation. We are interested in the harbor because
Tylerton is located within the apex of the Chesapeake’s
terrapin population. An island setting
would provide natural security to our field station. We would allow the
watermen to remain in the harbor without charge in exchange for keeping an eye
on our operation. It’s a simple gesture,
you help us – we help you, nothing more.
The harbor was advertised in the
newspaper and offered “for sale to the highest bidder”. We believed this to mean the harbor was
actually for sale and if a respectable bid was received, the harbor would
actually be sold. In order to make a respectable
offer, we researched the market and non-market value of the harbor and compared
prices of recently transferred properties in Tylerton and the surrounding
area. Based on current property
information, the harbor met our needs and was in our price range. The harbor has no recorded improvements, revenues
or other assets. We used the value
information provided by the Department of Assessment and Taxation. We believe our bid of $59,000 was respectable
and ethical. Of course, the other way to
determine the harbor’s market value is to put it up for sale to the highest
bidder. On November 1, 2005, after the
bids were opened, the Terrapin Institute was the high bidder by a margin of $21,500. We expected to be the rightful owner of the
harbor. It is disheartening to learn
that there was never any intention to sell the harbor and we never had any
chance of owning the harbor. We do not
understand the opposition to our ownership or to our proposal to preserve the
harbor.
Contrary to what you may have heard, the Terrapin Institute is
not a land developer and had no plans to build condominiums on the site.
We had no plans to evict the watermen or charge a fee for boat
slips. As we stated in our bid, we planned to preserve the harbor, make
necessary repairs, and develop new economies in Tylerton. We were
prepared to place whatever deed restrictions that would be necessary to
ensure that the watermen would always have a home in the Tylerton harbor.
We were prepared to offer joint ownership with the local watermen’s
organization. Unfortunately, no one ever
asked to speak with us to learn the truth about our intentions.
We cannot blame the watermen of Tylerton for being
suspicious of another non-profit group. After all, what have these groups
ever done for working watermen? They
never offer to buy you a piece of land, pay your rent, compensate you for your
lost wages, or provide legal representation.
Despite the billions of tax dollars spent on Chesapeake Bay
restoration, very little of that public money actually produced more fish,
oysters, boat harbors, or income for watermen.
You have every right to be suspicious.
Tylerton Lease Holder, Page Two, November 16, 2005
The Terrapin Institute is equally guarded. We are 100% privately funded and do not
receive any financial support from federal or state grants. As such, we have the freedom from politics
and government to do things differently.
After 30 years of junk data, bad decisions, and plummeting
resources, we believe we need to do something different. How bad does it have to get? We are concerned that terrapin populations
are decreasing and tidewater habitats are disappearing at an alarming
rate. You know these truths as well as
we do. We want to do something now,
before it is too late.
The Terrapin Institute is not a wealthy organization. We had the private funds to buy the harbor at
the estimated market value. We had the
support from private sources to make the necessary improvements to the harbor
and operate our modest field station. Economic
development is not our expertise and we don’t claim to be the Patron Saint of
Watermen. Terrapins and terrapin habitat
remain our primary concern. Watermen
have been our collaborators and chief source of information on terrapin distribution
and populations. Last year alone, the
Terrapin Institute paid $16,000 directly to the commercial fishing industry.
The Terrapin Institute field station may have encouraged
visitors and generated some business for Tylerton. We collaborate with others in the U.
S., Australia,
China, and Viet
Nam. Our
work and the ecology of Smith Island
would be interesting to our colleagues from around the world. Certainly, our field station would not have
been a disadvantage for watermen or the citizens of Tylerton. We have no interest in exploiting watermen or
the Tylerton community as a tourist attraction.
We had no intention of capitalizing on the culture of Somerset
County. We had intended to use the harbor as a base for
our field work in the surrounding areas.
Our presence in Tylerton would have been very low key. There were no plans to change the harbor or build
a residence on the site. We hoped to be
accepted by the residents and help each other.
Objections to our plans from other non-profit organizations
were unwarranted. The Terrapin Institute
is narrowly focused on preservation and conservation. We are no threat to the environmental
industry or the commercial fishing industry in Tylerton or elsewhere. Under our proposal, Somerset
County would receive cash to use towards
services for other County citizens and the watermen of Tylerton would have
retained their harbor at our expense. The
Terrapin Institute would have assumed all management and liability for keeping
the harbor open for our operation and for watermen. If the local watermen were interested, the
Terrapin Institute would have added them to the deed.
That was our hope, plain and simple. Until we try, we will never know how
successful and compatible the Terrapin Institute can be in Tylerton. Since
we were denied the opportunity to buy the Tylerton harbor, it is back to
business as usual. We continue to look
for affordable tidewater property to use as a field station.
If there is a change of heart, the Terrapin Institute
remains interested in buying the harbor and sharing ownership. We would
like to meet with you to discuss other ideas and opportunities. Maybe we could help each other.
Sincerely,
Marguerite
Whilden
The
Terrapin Institute
P. O. BOX 51 ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND 21401
410 370
9171
www.terrapininstitute.org