An investigation by the Committee on Finance for the United States Senate has thrust The Nature Conservancy and its conservation buyer program unde

FARM Institute, the novice non-profit dedicated to bolstering the Vineyard's agricultural heritage, is putting its first Island home up for sale, planning to surrender a foothold in the storied Herring Creek Farm.

The transaction will help bankroll the institute's vision for neighboring Katama Farm - a 190-acre spread that the town of Edgartown turned over to FARM Institute this spring.

It began with a suburban-style subdivision plan, polished like a shiny apple: Maximum density, 54 luxury homes, two beach clubs with swimming pools.

It ended last week with a record real estate sale and a subdivision plan of a markedly different color: Six new luxury homes added to five existing homes and a vast sweep of farmland saved forever.

But between the beginning and the end of the Herring Creek Farm story there is another story.

When Steven McCormick was a law student, he asked a professor to explain the exact meaning of the word perpetuity. The law professor's reply to the young student was simple and direct. "It means forever - and a day," the professor said.

Forever and a day is exactly how long the farm fields will now be preserved at the Herring Creek Farm in Edgartown, and on the Vineyard this week Mr.

Ending months of speculation and more than a decade of bitter warring over development plans - both in and out of court - the 215-acre, ecologicall