While Aquidneck Island has a long history of agriculture and some of the best farming soils in the state, our farms are also under tremendous development threat. At the end of 2024, the Land Trust worked with landowners Bill and Nancy Wilson, the State of Rhode Island’s Agricultural Land Preservation Commission, and USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service to conserve a 13-acre portion of the vineyard off scenic Wapping Road in Portsmouth. Working farmland like the vineyard is essential to our local economy and community. The land has been in agriculture for generations and is connected to other conservation properties, adding onto the protected corridor of lands on the eastern side of Aquidneck Island. The conservation easement will ensure it stays farmland forever.