Community Center

Agriculture Department Advances Landmark Land Purchase on Inner Brass Island

The Department of Agriculture is pressing on with plans to purchase a large swath of land on Inner Brass Island off the coast of St. Thomas, Commissioner Louis Petersen told lawmakers during a meeting of the Committee on Economic Development and Agriculture held earlier this month. The acquisition, for which funding has already been secured, intends to “promote the conservation and protection in perpetuity of important forest areas of high environmental importance that are threatened by conversion to non-forest uses in the USVI.” It forms part of the Department’s Forest Legacy Program. The purchase of the 91-acre property has proved to be a “tedious process,” said Mr. Peterson. Notwithstanding, he was pleased to inform committee members that “this purchase of land will be the first Virgin Islands Forest Legacy Program purchase of land for St. Thomas.” The entire island will ultimately become part of the Virgin Islands’ territorial park system. “The property is uniquely valued by St. ...