The Sippican Lands Trust's annual meeting will focus on an accessible boardwalk that the group is attempting to build on the property's Osprey Marsh property.

The meeting's speaker will be John Berg, the Sakonnet Landscape manager at the Nature Conservancy in Rhode Island.  Berg will discuss how the Conservancy's  Dundery Brook Trauk in Little Compton, RI, was begun, and the multiple steps involved in completing it.  The boardwalk is accessible for people with disabilities, which means that it is an ideal model for the Sippican Lands Trust's interests at Osprey Marsh.

"It will be accessible for wheelchairs and blind people because it will have side rails,” Lands Trust President Kate Ross said in February of this year. “The thought is to make it accessible for someone who couldn’t make it on a typical trail.”

The organization has already met with Marion's Conservation Commission and successfully gone through the town's permitting process. Members are beginning to fundraise for the $400,000 it will likely cost to construct the boardwalk—the price tag includes future upkeep and planning costs.

Putting a boardwalk at Osprey Marsh is part of the organization’s initiative to get more people outside and onto SLT properties.

“One of the things we’re trying to do is encourage people to get out and use the land,” Ross said. “We live in such a beautiful area, and on top of that, it’s healthy. It’s a beautiful piece of property and the end of the trail has waterfront views.”

The Lands Trust's annual meeting will be held at Marion's Music Hall (164 Front Street, Marion) at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 11.