VOTE YES ON 6

Protect Water & Nature in Massachusetts — Without Raising Taxes

Photo Courtesy of Mass Audubon

Everyone in Massachusetts — no matter where we live — needs clean water and access to nature. Question 6 dedicates the sales tax we already pay on sporting goods to protect clean drinking water; conserve forests, family farms, and natural wildlife habitat; and create more parks, trails, and greenspaces for all to enjoy.

This November, vote YES on Question 6! 

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.

A landscape scene with green grass in the foreground, a line of trees and shrubs, a body of water, and a clear blue sky with a few wispy clouds.

‍ ‍About Our Coalition

Question 6 is supported by the Nature for Massachusetts 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.

The idea is simple: set aside revenue from the existing state sales tax on sporting goods to raise as much as $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.

Group of people gathered at an indoor event, holding signs supporting climate and environmental justice, with a speaker at the podium and banners displaying environmental themes.
Sunrise over a calm river with a fallen tree in the foreground, surrounded by green trees and foliage, with mist rising from the water and sunlight reflecting on the surface.

About Question 6: the Protect Water and Nature Initiative

Photo courtesy of Jamie Malcolm-Brown

It’s official: the Protect Water and Nature Ballot Initiative will be Question 6 on the November 2026 statewide ballot in Massachusetts. Together, we collected more than 122,000 signatures from voters across the Commonwealth to place the initiative on the ballot.

Question 6 is simple: it dedicates funds from the existing state sales tax on sporting goods to raise as much as $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 Question 6, 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 *

Arlington Land Trust

Ashby Land Trust

Association to Preserve Cape Cod

Authentic Caribbean Foundation

Barnstable Land Trust

Bemis

Berkshire Environmental Action Team

Berkshire Natural Resources Council

Boston Harbor Now

Brewster Conservation Trust

Brewster Ponds Coalition

Brookline GreenSpace Alliance *

BSLA | Boston Society of Landscape Architects

Charles River Conservancy

Charles River Watershed Association

Chatham Conservation Foundation

Cohasset Open Space and Recreation Committee

Concord Climate Action Network (ConcordCAN)

Concord Land Conservation Trust

Connecticut River Conservancy

Conservation Law Foundation

Dedham Greenspace Coalition

Deerfield River Watershed Association

Dudley Conservation Land Trust

Emerald Necklace Conservancy

Farming Falmouth

Franklin Land Trust

Friends of Cold Spring Park

Friends of Holly Hill Farm

Friends of Pleasant Bay, Inc.

Friends of the Blue Hills

Friends of the Middlesex Fells Reservation

Green Cambridge

GreenRoots

Groton Conservation Trust

Grow Native Massachusetts

Hale Education, Inc

Harwich Conservation Trust

Hilltown Land Trust

Ipswich River Watershed Association

Kestrel Land Trust

Land / Water Associates

Land Trust Alliance

Lenox Garden Club

Lincoln Land Conservation Trust

Mass Audubon*

Mass Parks for All

Massachusetts Land Trust Coalition

Massachusetts Society of Municipal Conservation Professionals

Massachusetts Rivers Alliance *

MASSPIRG Students

Merrimac Neighbors for Nature

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 Organic Farming Association, Massachusetts Chapter

Northeast Trailworks, LLP

OARS 3 Rivers

Ocean River Institute

Opacum Land Trust

Orleans Conservation Trust

Orleans Pond Coalition

Provincetown Conservation Trust

Quincy Climate Action Network (QCAN)

Regional Environmental Council (REC)

Rehoboth Land Trust, Inc.

REI

SafeTrails First Aid

Save the Harbor/Save the Bay

Studio Shangri-La Multimedia

Sudbury Valley Trustees

Sustainable Marblehead

The 300 Committee Land Trust (Falmouth)

The Compact of Cape Cod Conservation Trusts

The Nature Conservancy *

The Neighborhood Developers

The Trustees *

Tree Boston

Trust for Public Land *

Upstream Carbon

Waypoint Adventure

Wellfleet Conservation Trust

Wild Cohasset

Wildlands Trust

Woodwell Climate Research Center