So many of you are writing to Congressman Moulton and the FWS/Parker River Wildlife Refuge to tell them why you want to stop the demolition of The Pink House. And when you write, it's easy to cc: Senators Markey and Warren as well as your Rep Kassner or Rep Shande (if from their district). 

While your letter should be all your own, in addition to writing what it means to you, you will increase your letter's power if you add compelling, value based reasons that fit your truth like: 

• My cause earned a lot of money at our fundraiser through Pink House art.
• I supplement my living through PH art.  
• The Pink House brings more tourists and visitors out to our area, especially in the off season. This is critical to keeping our businesses supported as they then eat, shop, rent, or come back to stay in hotels or B&Bs in the area- not just in Newbury/Newburyport, but in Amesbury, Salisbury, Rowley and Ipswich as well.
• My business is boosted by the tourism THP generates, especially during the off season.

• We know every option has not been exhausted! If F&W is, in good faith, open to land trade, where is their specifications for desirable land posted for the public?
• Please extend the demolition plans.
• The comment period should go longer than 30 days, given that FWS is open for solutions, and the holidays are imminent through New Years. Keep it open until the end of January. 
• The house needs to be properly fortified The Pink House for the winter and care much better for it on a regular basis, or allow others to do so until a solution is found. 
• Congressman Moulton, why have you not made a statement of support for this which is so important to those who voted for you? 
• It is a cultural landmark, our history and heritage and we value that more than your plans. 
• We can use Greenbelts' property just to the East to park more cars than you plan and have the same view rather than lose the Pink House.
• There are marsh grasses to everywhere in the Refuge and our area. These are hardly pristine being on a main road and only 9 acres, with haying activity all around it.
• Suggest solid solutions.
• Expand on its value to the state, the area, your community, New England. 

WANT TO DO MORE? 
Please "volunteer" by spreading the word on your social media from our website or social media, and by leaving any more ideas like the ones on this list in the comments for others to see and spark their own ideas. Thank you!
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For much of the last 8 years, we at Support The Pink House (STPH) had been steered to keep quiet the details of our plan for the preservation and restoration of Plum Island's beloved and iconic Pink House and the agreement made with US Fish and Wildlife for land exchange. US Fish and Wildlife (FWS) and various stakeholders did not want to inform the public of our agreement. While not comfortable with that, we complied for the good of the project. We kept our focus on getting it done. 

STPH has come so close to fulfilling our mission to save and restore the iconic Pink House under our perpetual Preservation Restriction on behalf of the tens of thousands of MA constituents who love the house and want to see it saved. This made Fish & Wildlife's sudden decision to not fulfill their part of the agreement in November 2023 and announcing a new plan for demolition of The Pink House more devastating than we could have ever imagined. 

That being said, we can now share what the public deserved to know.  Support The Pink House Inc. HAD completed all the steps necessary to make the house ready for trade by August 2022, and are still waiting for FWS’s part to complete the process. 
 
Here is a list of STPH’s steps, funded by donors, including The Pink House Board: 
 
ACCOMPLISHMENTS in 2021:

• Yellow Book Appraisal - a costly and intensive appraisal used by Fish & Wildlife to determine value of a property
• Survey and Wetland Mapping
• Collaboration with Fish & Wildlife re: public relations plans
• Assisted FWS with boundary line agreements with abutter Bob Colby, needed on all sides of FWS/PH area parcels
• Created an ANR (Division of Land) Agreement 
• Met with Newbury Zoning Board of Appeals 3 times. Obtained a unanimous vote to approve variance separating The Pink House from the surrounding marshland that currently exists with the pink house property.  
• Submitted Form B application to Mass Historical Commission (MHC). Explored TPH’s historic and cultural significance on the state level.
• Submitted our Preservation Restriction to the Newbury Historical Commission and Newbury’s Town Counsel for review.

 
ACCOMPLISHMENTS in 2022:

• Newbury Planning Board voted unanimously to approve the ANR, thus creating TPH’s own 1.069 acre lot. 
• Meeting with FWS Realty, STPH Board and our attorney to discuss final procedures. FWS Realty presents a swap date for July/August 2022. 
• Pink House walk through with FW Refuge Manager Matt Hillman, PH Restoration Partner, his architect, and engineer.
• PH Restoration Partner creates exterior architectural elevation plans to submit with the Preservation Restriction, as requested by Newbury Town Counsel. 
• Restoration Partner completed interior architectural plans
• Newbury Historical Commission voted unanimously to hold and enforce The Pink House Preservation Restriction
• Preservation Restriction sent to Michael Steinitz at Mass Historical Commission at his request to expedite review to meet the deadline FWS set to trade.
• Mass Historical Commission (MHC) declares TPH as “included in the Inventory of Historic and Archaeological Assets of the Commonwealth and is significant for its architecture, associations and/or archaeology, and qualified for the protections of a perpetual preservation restriction.”
• Obtained DEP#, passed NEESP/MESA review. 
• Met twice with Conservation Commission + site visit. Unanimous vote for The Pink House restoration plan. 
• Mass Historical Commission completed review and confirmed the Perpetual Preservation Restriction is approved but for seeing the FWS proposed deed. Once received, MHC committed to a 3 day turn around. We are still waiting for FWS to share the requested proposed deed. 
• Both The Newbury Select Board and Historical Commission met, voted to accept the Preservation Restriction, and stand ready to expedite. 

 
Concurrently, Fish & Wildlife Division of Realty identified desirable land in their system, got it approved for trade, and informed STPH on July 6, 2022 that the swap land was ready. But by August 2022, the month we were to close, that land fell through.  That was over one year ago. 
 
STPH pursued meetings with FWS, who, in November 2022, asked for time to procure new land. To date, this has proved unsuccessful, and FWS has since paused their search as of March 2023.

THERE IS STILL HOPE! PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOR HOW YOU CAN HELP SAVE THE PINK HOUSE & PRESERVE IT FOR POSTERITY! 

Newburyport Magazine, out today in subscriber’s Newburyport Daily News, has a ‘Parting Shot’ of The Pink House, along with a great story by Lisa Powis of Newbury, MA. 

The essay is testament to the many times we each may think “there’s nothing to see…” this article encourages you to go out anyway, because you never know until you get there what wonders you’ll find.  In this case it was a raptor who flew to perch on the chimney of the Pink House - the highest viewpoint point for miles around. 

Imagine what it looks like from inside the cupola - with it’s 360 degrees of uninterrupted views during sunrises, sunsets, high tides, storms, snows, rising moons and under the stars with very little light from any other source.  

In a word, it’s MAGICAL! 

​You can also grab the issue at Jabberwocky Books in the Tannery on Water Street in Newubryport, MA.