May 10, 2003 -- "LATE SHOW" host David Letterman is one of several millionaires who was able to buy oceanfront estates on Martha’s Vineyard from the Nature Conservancy, which is dedicated to stopping such development.
Two years ago, the Nature Conservancy, which buys raw land and holds it in perpetuity to preserve fragile ecosystems, bought the 215-acre Herring Creek Farm in Edgartown for $64 million. The purchase was hailed at the time as 'an important victory for conservation on Martha’s Vineyard,' part of the Conservancy’s campaign to save America’s 'Last Great Places.'
But now, the Washington Post reveals that the agency immediately resold half the land to Letterman and other fat cats, some of whom plan to build McMansions on pristine parcels that would otherwise have been unobtainable. '[Now] it’s a Last Great Place for David Letterman,' former Conservancy exec-turned-critic David Morine told the paper.
