Press Release: “YES on 6” Ballot Campaign Highlights Success of Dedicated Funding from Sporting Goods Sales Tax to Protect Water and Nature in Other States
For Immediate Release
September 29, 2026
Contact: Andrew Farnitano, 925-917-1354, andrew@acfstrategies.com
“YES on 6” Ballot Campaign Highlights Success of Dedicated Funding from Sporting Goods Sales Tax to Protect Water and Nature in Other States
Georgia, Texas, and Virginia Dedicate Sporting Goods Sales Tax to Parks and Conservation; Colorado Also Considering Policy on 2026 Ballot
BOSTON — The “YES on 6” ballot campaign, which aims to create a dedicated source of funding for land and water conservation in Massachusetts, today highlighted how multiple other states have had success dedicating a portion of their sales tax on sporting goods to protect clean water and nature.
Question 6, the Protect Water and Nature ballot initiative on the November statewide ballot, would create a new Nature for All Fund and dedicate funds from the existing state sales tax on sporting goods to protecting and conserving water and nature — without raising taxes. Other states including Virginia, Georgia, and Texas have already dedicated a similar sporting goods sales tax to supporting parks and conserving land and water, providing them with hundreds of millions of dollars annually to preserve, restore, and improve their land, water, forests, parks, greenspace, and outdoor recreation spaces. A similar proposal is also on the ballot in Colorado as Proposition 137.
Since Georgia began dedicating funds from its sporting goods sales tax to conservation in 2019, the Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Program has allocated over $175 million to 88 conservation and outdoor recreation projects across the state. Grantees have committed more than $257 million in matching funds, for a total investment exceeding $433 million. The program has helped build or improve dozens of parks and trails across the state and helped acquire and permanently conserve at least 69,000 acres of Georgia land.
For example, this year the program helped the Georgia Department of Natural Resources acquire nearly 4,000 acres along Trail Ridge near the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, permanently protecting a significant landscape that was threatened by a proposed heavy mineral mining operation. Following the acquisition, the Okefenokee Swamp was officially designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
And just last week, news broke that the state of Georgia, along with Bartow and Cherokee counties, have agreed to acquire the former Pine Log Wildlife Management Area site, the largest contiguous, privately-owned forested tract in North Georgia. The deal, which relies on funding from the Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Program, will return more than 14,000 acres of the privately-owned former wildlife preserve to public use and permanent conservation.
“Having the sporting goods sales tax dedicated to land conservation and park construction in Georgia is the most impactful conservation program in our state’s history,” said George Dusenbury, Georgia State Director for the Trust for Public Land. “Communities across the state look to the Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Program to make their public land dreams a reality. As a result, millions of Georgia residents now have more access to parks, wildlife, and outdoor recreation, and local communities have the resources to protect the places they love.”
In 2019, Texas voters passed a constitutional amendment fully dedicating funding from the sporting goods sales tax to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the Texas Historical Commission. From FY2022 through FY2025, Texas spent nearly $800 million in sporting goods sales tax funds on state park operations, land acquisition, park improvements, and other conservation programs. And in Virginia, a portion of revenue from the sales tax on sporting goods is dedicated to the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources.
“After other states dedicated a portion of the existing sales tax on sporting goods to parks and conservation, our Nature Conservancy colleagues in those states saw marked results: thousands of acres protected, new parks and trails, and cleaner drinking water,” said Kris Sarri, State Director of the Massachusetts Nature Conservancy. “This November, by voting yes on Question 6 Massachusetts voters have the opportunity to conserve the natural resources that make our state special. Question 6 will protect clean drinking water; reduce pollution in rivers, lakes, and the ocean; conserve forests, family farms, and natural wildlife habitats; prevent flooding and storm damage; and create and improve and provide access to parks, trails, and greenspaces. It’s a proven model that we need here in Massachusetts, now more than ever.”
Background
Question 6, the ‘Protect Water and Nature’ initiative, would dedicate funds from the existing state sales tax on sporting goods to protecting and conserving water and nature — without raising taxes. Question 6 would create a dedicated Nature for All Fund with as much as $100 million each year to support the conservation and restoration of water and natural areas in Massachusetts, protect the quality of our drinking water and natural wildlife habitats, and support the creation and improvement of parks, trails, greenspaces, and other outdoor recreation spaces.
The Nature for All Fund would be funded by the state’s existing sales tax on sporting goods like camping gear, golf clubs, and fishing equipment — not by creating a new tax. Question 6 allocates just 0.16% of the state’s $63.4 billion annual budget, but it would make a big difference for land and water. Question 6 would also establish a public oversight board that would approve all expenditures from the fund, with strict annual reporting requirements to track every dollar spent.
Question 6 is supported by a diverse coalition of more than 100 environmental, conservation, and community organizations and businesses throughout Massachusetts, including the state’s leading nonprofit land and water conservation groups such as Mass Audubon, The Trustees, Appalachian Mountain Club, the Conservation Law Foundation, Massachusetts Rivers Alliance, The Nature Conservancy, and Trust for Public Land, as well as dozens of local and regional groups from every corner of the state.
Over the last year, the coalition collected more than 122,000 signatures from Massachusetts voters to put nature on the ballot. Volunteers from dozens of organizations within the coalition contributed to this tremendous showing of support by collecting thousands of signatures from their neighbors at farmers’ markets, festivals, trailheads, and wildlife sanctuaries.
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The YES on 6 campaign is led by Nature for Massachusetts, a large and diverse coalition of environmental, conservation, and community organizations that seek to create a dedicated, annual revenue stream to conserve water, land, urban greenspace, outdoor recreation access, and wildlife in Massachusetts. For more information, visit natureforma.org.