Nature for
Massachusetts
Photo Courtesy of Mass Audubon
Everyone in Massachusetts — no matter where we live — deserves clean drinking water and access to nature. It’s time to protect the places we love — clean water, healthy forests, more trails and parks, and access to the outdoors and nature for everyone in Massachusetts.
The time to act is now.
Together, we can protect water and nature here in Massachusetts.
Our rivers, lakes, forests, farms, and other natural areas are part of what makes Massachusetts so great, and we need to do more to make sure they’re protected — from the smallest urban parks and community gardens to the largest rivers and forests. And by conserving natural areas, forests and wildlife habitats, the state can reduce runoff in our lakes, rivers and streams — protecting the quality of our drinking water and natural habitats. Because nothing is more important than having clean drinking water.
About Our Coalition
Nature for Massachusetts is a large and diverse coalition of environmental, conservation, and community organizations and national corporations that seek to create a dedicated, annual revenue stream to conserve water, land, urban greenspace, outdoor recreation access, and wildlife in Massachusetts.
We’re urging the State Legislature to pass the Nature for All bill (H.901/S.2571) to fund land and water conservation year after year. The idea is simple: set aside revenue from the existing state sales tax on sporting goods to raise $100 million every year for protecting and conserving water and nature—without raising taxes.
It’s time to protect the places we love — clean water, healthy forests, more trails and parks, and access to the outdoors and nature for everyone in Massachusetts. All without raising taxes.
About the Protect Water and Nature Initiative
Photo courtesy of Jamie Malcolm-Brown
At the same time, a wide coalition of organizations are also pursuing the Protect Water and Nature Ballot Initiative as a question on the November 2026 ballot. If lawmakers don’t act, we’re ready to bring this issue directly to voters through a 2026 ballot question.
Our goals are simple: dedicate funds from the existing state sales tax on sporting goods to raise $100 million every year for protecting and conserving water and nature — without raising taxes. It’s time to protect the places we love — clean water, healthy forests, more trails and parks, and access to the outdoors and nature for everyone in Massachusetts.
Learn more here, or reach out to the ballot committee by emailing voteyesforwaterandnature@gmail.com.
The growing group of organizations supporting the Protect Water and Nature Ballot Initiative include the following. Members of the ballot steering committee are marked with an asterisk *
American Rivers
Appalachian Mountain Club *
Association to Preserve Cape Cod
Authentic Caribbean Foundation
Bemis
Berkshire Environmental Action Team
Berkshire Natural Resources Council
Boston Harbor Now
Brookline GreenSpace Alliance *
BSLA | Boston Society of Landscape Architects
Charles River Conservancy
Charles River Watershed Association
Concord Climate Action Network (ConcordCAN)
Concord Land Conservation Trust
Connecticut River Conservancy
Conservation Law Foundation
Deerfield River Watershed Association
Franklin Land Trust
Friends of Cold Spring Park
Friends of Holly Hill Farm
Friends of the Blue Hills
Friends of the Middlesex Fells Reservation
Green Cambridge
GreenRoots
Grow Native Massachusetts
Hale Education, Inc
Hilltown Land Trust
Ipswich River Watershed Association
Kestrel Land Trust
Land / Water Associates
Land Trust Alliance
League of Women Voters Concord Carlisle
Mass Audubon *
Mass Parks for All
Massachusetts Land Trust Coalition
Massachusetts Society of Municipal Conservation Professionals
Massachusetts Rivers Alliance *
Mount Auburn Cemetery
Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust *
Mystic River Watershed Association
Native Plant Trust
New England Mountain Bike Association
Newton Conservators
Norcross Wildlife Foundation
North County Land Trust
Northeast Trailworks, LLP
OARS 3 Rivers
Orleans Pond Coalition
Quincy Climate Action Network (QCAN)
Regional Environmental Council (REC)
REI
Save the Harbor/Save the Bay
Studio Shangri-La Multimedia
Sudbury Valley Trustees
Sustainable Marblehead
The Nature Conservancy *
The Trustees *
Trust for Public Land *
Waypoint Adventure
Wild Cohasset
Wildlands Trust