About the Protect Water and Nature Ballot Initiative

Everyone in Massachusetts — no matter where we live — deserves clean drinking water and access to nature. Next year, Massachusetts has an important opportunity to protect our rivers, lakes, forests, farms, and other natural areas.

In coordination with our parallel legislative campaign, a wide coalition of organizations is 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.

The Protect Water and Nature Ballot Initiative would create a dedicated Nature for All Fund with $100 million each year to support the conservation and restoration of water and land in Massachusetts, and to support the creation and improvement of parks, trails, greenspaces, and other outdoor recreation spaces, so we can:

  • Protect Clean Drinking Water: Nothing is more important than having clean drinking water. 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.

  • Conserve Forests, Farms, and Other Natural Areas: Our forests, family 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.

The Nature for All Fund would be funded by the state’s existing sales tax on sporting goods such as golf clubs, RVs, and camping gear — not by creating a new tax. The law would also establish a public oversight board that would approve all expenditures from the fund. Questions? Check out our FAQ page to learn more.

GET INVOLVED

You can reach out to the ballot committee by emailing voteyesforwaterandnature@gmail.com.

Here are several ways you can get involved and support our efforts:

WHO WE ARE

The growing group of organizations supporting the Protect Water and Nature 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

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

SafeTrails First Aid

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