Brownsea Island Treasury to pay her death duties. Concerned the island could be sold to commercial developers, a campaign was started by local conservationist, Helen Brotherton, with the aim of purchasing the island to protect its natural habitats. The National Trust subsequently agreed to take over responsibility for the island if enough funds were raised and in 1962 its purchased Brownsea for £100,000. Work was carried out to prepare the island for visitors; tracks were cleared through areas overgrown with rhododendrons and firebreaks were created to prevent repetition of the 1934 fire. The Dorset Wildlife Trust leased a nature reserve on the
Coast Guard Station Cobb Island County, Virginia, on Virginia's Eastern Shore, in May 1998. TNC subsequently restored the former Station Cobb Island as a nature education center/lodge/conference center through adaptive reuse. The property is currently listed for sale. Coast Guard Station Cobb Island was built by the United States Coast Guard on the southern end of Cobb Island in 1936 to replace an earlier c.1877 Coast Guard Station. The architecture stye of the new Station was Colonial Revival, as designed by the Coast Guard’s Civil Engineer’s office. Station Cobb Island was decommissioned by the Coast Guard in 1964 and abandoned. The Nature Conservancy (TNC) acquired