Frequently Asked Questions

Question 6, the Protect Water and Nature ballot 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 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 would dedicate revenue from the existing sales tax that customers are already paying on sporting goods in Massachusetts — everything from camping gear and ski boots to golf clubs and fishing equipment. Currently, that revenue goes into the state’s General Fund, which is the destination for most unrestricted, state-raised revenue such as the sales tax, meals tax, corporate income tax, and personal income tax. Under the ballot initiative, revenue from the existing state sales tax on sporting goods (as much as $100 million/year) would go into the Nature for All Fund instead of being used to support the state’s $63.4 billion annual budget.

The Legislature allocates money from the General Fund to many different things every year, including salaries and benefits for most state employees, local aid to cities and towns, debt service for money the state borrows, and the basic operating costs of many state government programs. Using money from the General Fund does not take money away from any specific spending area.

In fact, over the past five years, the overall state budget has grown by an average of $3.8 billion each year, so $100 million dedicated to land and water conservation would be merely a fraction of a single year’s growth in the state budget. The budgetary impact of Question 6 will be easy for state budget-writers to manage with new revenue growth, and it won’t take money away from any existing spending areas.

No, Question 6 is not a tax increase — consumers and businesses won’t pay a penny more. The ballot initiative simply ensures that a portion of the sales tax we already pay on sporting goods goes toward protecting our land and water.

Question 6 would establish a public oversight board made up of Massachusetts residents that would establish rules for spending from the Nature for All fund, and approve all annual spending. All spending from the fund would be 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.

With Question 6, communities across the Commonwealth will have cleaner water, more access to nature, increased outdoor recreation opportunities, and decreased pollution. Examples of projects that could be funded by the Nature for All Fund include: permanently protecting forests, family farms, and wetlands (including through acquisitions of land for conservation by nonprofits, state agencies, or cities and towns, as well as through permanent conservation easements); building new parks and greenspaces in cities and towns throughout the state; adding and improving trails, river paths, and greenways in local parks and forests; and preserving the land near critical waterways to prevent pollution from entering our rivers and streams and to reduce the damage from storms and flooding.

Currently, the state appropriates only about $25 millionin bond funding for land conservation annually, although the exact number fluctuates year-to-year. But this amount of funding is not nearly enough to meet the need for land and water conservation in Massachusetts, and nature funding is often the last program funded and the first program cut! That’s why we need Question 6: to ensure that we have a reliable source of funding for land and water conservation, year after year.

(The Mass Audubon Pathways 30x30 technical supplementshows a list of all public funding sources over the last fifteen years. Roughly $24 million in FY25 was from EEA-managed bond-funded programs, and roughly $1 million was acquisition funded through MVP.)

Question 6 would dedicate as much as $100 million each year to support the conservation and restoration of water and land in Massachusetts. That’s just 0.16% of the state’s $63.4 billion annual budget. Question 6 would have a negligible impact on the overall state budget, but it would have an enormous impact on land and water conservation in Massachusetts.

State revenues typically increase each year as the economy grows, keeping state investments and programs very stable and allowing the state to respond to rising costs and changing priorities. Over the past five years, the Massachusetts state budget has grown by an average of $3.8 billion each year, so $100 million dedicated to land and water conservation would be merely a fraction of a single year’s growth in the state budget. And in order to minimize any short-term impacts on existing budget priorities, Question 6 phases in over time — only dedicating 50% of sales tax revenue from sporting goods to the Nature for All fund in the first year of implementation, before fully phasing in during year two.

In short, the budgetary impact of Question 6 will be easy for state budget-writers to manage with new revenue growth, and it won’t take money away from any existing spending areas.

Question 6 states that the Nature for All fund could grant money for land and water conservation to non-profit conservation organizations, state agencies, cities and towns, regional government entities like regional planning agencies, economic development districts, and water districts, and tribal governments. Funding would be limited to projects that support the conservation and restoration of water and land in Massachusetts, or that support the creation and improvement of parks, trails, greenspaces, and other outdoor recreation spaces. Question 6 would establish a public oversight board that would approve all expenditures from the fund.

Other states including Virginia, Georgia, and Texas have already dedicated a similar sporting goods sales tax to conserve 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.

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 $256 million in matching funds, for a total investment exceeding $431 million. The program has helped build dozens of new parks and trails across the state and helped conserve or restore at least 69,000 acres of Georgia land.

Question 6 would generate as much as $100 million each year for land and water conservation. In Massachusetts, according to national economic surveys, consumers spent more than $2.496 billion in the sporting goods category in 2022, the most recent year for which data is available.

Under the ballot initiative, 1 penny of the state’s 6.25% sales tax on sporting goods would continue to be dedicated to the state’s School Building Authority, as has been state law since 2004. Another penny would continue to be dedicated to the MBTA, as has been state law since 2000. The remaining 4.25% would be dedicated to the Nature for All fund — that’s approximately $107 million. After adjusting for inflation since 2022 and for certain sales tax exemptions like clothing, services, & the state sales tax holiday, the ballot initiative would dedicate as much as $100 million to land and water conservation each year.

One of the ways money from Question 6 could be used is to permanently protect farmland with Agricultural Preservation Restrictions, in which landowners are paid the difference between the “fair market value” and the “agricultural value” of their land in exchange for a permanent restriction that keeps the land in agriculture. This approach makes farmland more affordable and accessible for farmers, strengthens the local food system, and protects natural resources and biodiversity across the state. Because the land is valued for agriculture, it remains more affordable when it is sold, helping ensure future farmers can continue to work the land. This is a proven model that has permanently protected more than 1,000 farms in Massachusetts, but more funding is needed to protect additional farmland — before it’s gone forever.

Yes! Portions of the sales tax are already dedicated to specific programs, like school building projects and the MBTA. Similarly, the gas tax is dedicated to funding roads, bridges, and transit, and revenue from the state lottery is dedicated to local municipal aid. Dedication is a common way to ensure that our tax dollars are going to important programs that voters value. Most recently, the Fair Share Amendment passed as a ballot question in 2022 and dedicated significant new funding for education and transportation programs in Massachusetts.

All consumer goods sold in the US are assigned a category under the U.S. Economic Census’ North America Industry Classification System (NAICS). Items categorized as sporting goods under Question 6 include everything from camping gear and ski boots to golf clubs and fishing equipment.

If passed, existing budgeted state programs (such as operating support for state parks, MassWildlife programs, and climate change resiliency funding) would continue to be funded through the state's operating budget. Question 6 would create a new Nature for All Fund to invest additional resources 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.

Question 6 wouldn’t affect any existing fees or funding streams that fund hunting and fishing programs. Instead the Nature for All Fund would increase the state’s investment in land and water for hunting and fishing.

Here are some of the current funds that support hunting and fishing. While important, these programs are relatively small, and not close to sufficient to meet the need for land and water conservation funding in Massachusetts.

• Currently, the state appropriates only about $25 million in bond funding for land conservation annually — a fraction of the amount needed.

• All funds from freshwater fishing, hunting, and trapping license purchases go directly into the Inland Fish and Game Fund, which can only be used to support the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife) programs and services, including the scientific management of fish and wildlife; trout and pheasant stocking; habitat management; and educational programs.

• When purchasing a freshwater fishing, hunting, or trapping license, donations can be made to Wildlands Fund, which pays for the cost of acquiring wildlife habitat.

• All funds from saltwater fishing permits go into the Marine Recreational Fisheries Development Fund, which is administered by the Division of Marine Fisheries and finances recreational fishing improvement programs.

• In addition, federal excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment help fund state-level programs to support wildlife restoration, conservation, and hunter education and safety programs.

While important, these programs are relatively small, and not close to sufficient to meet the need for land and water conservation funding in Massachusetts. That’s why we need Question 6.

Question 6 would not affect or restrict the various ways that public land and open space are managed or used. It would simply generate more money to protect and steward our state’s natural resources. By protecting more land and water in Massachusetts, we can ensure that all the different ways we use our natural spaces can coexist better.

The full text of Question 6 can be found here. The official summary of the ballot initiative, written by the state Attorney General’s office, can be found here.