It’s a pretty safe bet that among the small group of people who walked a couple of miles through the Sheriff’s Meadow Middle Road sanctuary last Saturday, none was happier to be there than Adam Moore.

Not just because of the beautiful surroundings, with those views across Chilmark Pond to the Atlantic. Nor even because Mr. Moore, as executive director of the Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation for the past 10 months, is ultimately responsible for the stewardship of this and many other beautiful places on Martha’s Vineyard.

Because a year ago, Mr. Moore physically could not have done it.

This time last year, he was having trouble walking any distance at all, courtesy of rheumatoid arthritis he has had since he was 25. Last March he got two new knees, and has since gained a new hip as well.

“So,” he says, “it’s incredibly rewarding to be able to go out and walk these properties now. It’s a real blessing. I’m grateful for every step I take.”

He still does not move easily, but he gets there.

And he brings the same determination, the one-step-at-a-time approach to his job, it seems. For the Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation, likewise, was not traveling so easily when he took over as executive director last May.

The foundation was embroiled in trouble. It had not been complying with state requirements about managing its properties; there was an investigation into how trees and plants had been removed from two properties by a private landscaper. There was bad press. There was outrage from foundation members and other conservationists.

None of it was Mr. Moore’s fault; he just inherited the problem.

Life isn’t fair, but there’s no point raging against that. You’ve just got to fix it.

And so he did. Was entirely courteous in dealing with demands of the Gazette and, we presume, other media; utterly compliant with the demands of the Natural Heritage and Endangered Species program officials’ demands for remedial action on the properties; humbly frank with the membership about where the foundation had gone wrong; quietly diligent about reforming the way the foundation conducted its business.

There have been big changes at Sheriff’s Meadow, and there will be more. But first, a bit more about Mr. Moore.

“I grew up in a once-rural town: Durham, Connecticut, and I saw the town getting rapidly developed. I remember farmland where I had enjoyed walking one year, and the next it was sprouting houses, as far as I could see.”

That was one motivation towards his choice of career. Another was family.

“My grandfather had been very involved locally, and my father was with the state environmental protection department,” he said.

His conservation ethos was developed further at the Yale School of Forestry, which was founded at the turn of the 20th century by Gifford Pinchot, who later became the first chief of the National Forest Service.

He emerged not as one of those “lock it up and never go there” type of conservationists, but one with an understanding of sustainable management of forest resources, for practical as well as aesthetic use.

Mr. Moore first came to the Vineyard by happenstance — two of his wife Melissa’s college roommates lived here, she came to visit, fell in love with the place and later brought him.

In 1998, they moved here, so he could work with the land bank. Three years later, they left again — strictly a career move — so he could take a position as executive director of the Connecticut Forest and Park Association.

But they loved this place, and the chance to run Sheriff’s Meadow brought them back last year.

The first order of priority — beyond the initial crisis regarding the Caroline Tuthill and Priscilla Hancock properties — was getting the foundation compliant with state requirements for management plans.

“Property management is something we’ve been working hard on,” he said. “Revising our management plans, making sure every property has an up-to-date plan, and making sure that we’re filing those with Natural Heritage and Endangered Species program where required.

“We wrote more than a dozen plans last year — some have been approved — and more are in the pipeline. I want to get those wrapped up and move on.”

The fact is, things had not been looked after, bureaucratically. He is working to fully implement organizational guidelines set under land trust standards and practices.

“They’re pretty rigorous and make sure you have policies in place for record-keeping, how you go about accepting properties, conflicts of interest, staffing, retaining appropriate records on land transactions.

“There’s a very thick guide to it,” he said, perhaps a touch ruefully.

Of greater interest to the general public is a plan to open more of the organization’s land to the people, establish new trails. There is a list on the Web site, it will grow.

And, of course, there is the constant pressure to raise funds, no easy thing in the current economic environment. But Mr. Moore has concerns.

“Yes, people may have less to give, or may be more cautious because they’re concerned about their families’ well-being. We may have to work harder to raise money, but I think there are opportunities there.

“We just have to get to know our donors better and extend our reach.”

He noted the past history of the conservation movement. Sure, it was the gilded age around the turn of the last century, the 1890s, which gave birth to the movement, but another big period of advancement of the cause was the Great Depression.

That’s when the Civilian Conservation Corps was founded and planted thousands of acres of trees across the nation, built trails and state parks and forests.

“Both times the social and economic conditions were matched to the conservation needs of the time, “ Mr. Moore said. “So this can be a great time if we can find that match between what the country is able to do and what needs to be done.”

And right now, one of the big movements is towards locally grown produce.

“I am interested in promoting farmland because I see there is a thriving, locally grown initiative on the Island, and a lot of interest, nation wide, in locally-grown food. I think we, as the largest private landowner, have an obligation to look to see where we can be of help in this.

“I think it’s a public benefit. What we’re doing now is looking where we have prime agricultural soil, and seeing if some of those areas can be made available for agricultural use.”

Whether by coincidence or not, the big event planned for this, the 50th year of Sheriff’s Meadow’s existence, will be its summer benefit, on July 20, at the Allen Farm in Chilmark.

“Clarissa [Allen] is on our board of directors. She and [her husband] Mitch are very kindly hosting the event. And that of course is beautiful and it’s nice to highlight our interest in agriculture.”

And that in itself is a significant change. Last year’s big fundraiser was held at an up-Island home with acres of manicured turf.

Mr. Moore said that things will be “a bit different this year, a little more lively, more festive, more of a party.

“One theme I’m working on is to better connect with and serve the Island community,” he said.

To that end, there will be a series of public walks. There will be a photo contest, with prizes for the top three entrants in the adult and youth sections. A couple of art shows, planned at the Christina Gallery in Edgartown and the Field Gallery in West Tisbury (you’ll find details on the Web site).

“There’s a lot of stuff going on. We want it to be an exciting, celebratory year,” he said.

Let’s hope so. Mr. Moore and his foundation could use one, after last year.

And one final initiative to mention.

Mr. Moore knows better than most that immersion in the natural environment is just as precious — maybe more precious — to those who have trouble negotiating it.

“And so for our namesake property, Sheriff’s Meadow Sanctuary in Edgartown, we have a plan that calls for making the trail there a bit more accessible, so you can walk side by side with an elderly person, or you could push a wheelchair or a stroller.”

Good for him.