Volunteer Portal

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 help address the threats we face. But if lawmakers don’t act, we’re ready to bring this issue directly to voters through a 2026 ballot question. That’s why we’re collecting signatures to put the Protect Water and Nature initiative on the ballot, and we need your help this spring to get past the final hurdle.

It’s time to invest in our future—clean water, healthy forests, more trails and parks, and access to the outdoors and nature for everyone.

Goals and Timeline

To put this question in front of voters on the 2026 ballot, advocates need to collect over 100,000 signatures over two rounds of signature collection. We have already submitted over 90,000 certified signatures to the Secretary of State last fall. This spring, we need to collect 21,000 additional signatures, which would be enough to get us over 12,429 certified signatures.

The timeline is much more condensed this time, which means our ramp will be much shorter than before - and we need all hands on deck to get past this final hurdle. Please see below for all of our campaign’s volunteer resources that you need to get started.

Friday, May 8, 2026: Signatures papers available from Secretary of State
Sunday, June 14, 2026: Last day of signature collection
Wednesday, June 17, 2026: Deadline for submitting petitions to city and town halls for local certification
Wednesday, July 1, 2026: Deadline for submitting locally certified petitions to the Secretary of State
Please make sure you drop off or mail back all your signature papers to the campaign by June 14! Given the logistics involved in the local certification process, getting the papers back earlier than later will help in making sure we meet all the deadlines with plenty of time to spare.

Sign Up to Volunteer

Volunteers are the core of any advocacy campaign, and they’re at the core of this signature drive. If you’re interested in collecting signatures, sign up for an upcoming (virtual) training here.

Volunteer Resources

Requesting and Picking Up Petition Papers

Are you ready to collect signatures with Nature for MA? The first step is to pick up the petition papers from a location near you. You can see a map of our regional locations here, and more information about each location later on in this page, including hours of operation for signature collection and points of contact for each location. Please look at the hours and email in advance, so our team knows to expect you and can make sure we have materials ready!

If you want us to mail blank petition papers to you, please email James at james@field-first.com with how many petition papers you’re requesting, your address, and if you will bring them back to a regional location or mail them back.

Collecting Signatures

After you pick up blank petition papers, you can start collecting! Please see a list of events if you would like some ideas on where you could collect signatures at. You can find the FAQ and Signature Dos and Don’ts document here, and the campaign fact sheet here.

You can find the training slides here as a refresher. Some of the key points to remember are:

ONE city/town per petition paper!
Ask voters to sign AND print their name in the designated box so it is legible
The voter only needs to write their street address where they are registered to vote; the town/city name, zip code, and ward/precinct don’t need to be included (this is unnecessary information, but won’t harm anything if they do include it)
Any paper that has a stray mark - for example, a pen streak, scribble, or stain - will disqualify the entire sheet of paper, so please keep these papers as pristine as possible.

Reporting Your Collected Signatures

Accurate reporting is essential to ensuring that our campaign is on track to meeting our goals. With a broad and diverse coalition, reporting on time allows us to work together effectively towards our shared goals. We ask that volunteers report their signature gathering in a timely and accurate manner. Please report your signatures at the end of every day, or at the end of every event. You can report them here.

Dropping Off Your Collected Signatures

Once you have finished collecting signatures, you can drop them off at one of our regional locations. You can find the closest drop off location to you on this map, or take a look at the full list below for locations, hours of operation, and points of contact for each location. Before going, please email or call in advance so our team knows to expect you!

You can also mail your signatures to the following address:

Field First ATTN: James Wu
145 Tremont St, Suite 202
Boston, MA 02111

Please take note of the deadlines below to ensure all your papers will be processed and sent off for local certification in time.

Any signatures collected in May, bring them back to Field First or a Mass Audubon location before June 1
Any signatures collected in June, bring them back to the campaign ASAP (ideally the Field First office) on a rolling basis - any papers that are mailed to Field First need to arrive by Friday June 12, any papers that are physically dropped off need to be dropped off at Field First before Sunday June 14.

Regional Locations

You can find a map of our regional locations here, and more details below, including hours of operation and points of contact for each location. Please look at the hours of operation and email in advance, so our team knows to expect you! If none of these locations or times work for you, please reach out to James at james@field-first.com to discuss mailing you some papers or scheduling an alternative drop-off/pick-up plan.

Field First office
Address: 145 Tremont St, Suite 202, Boston, MA 02111
Hours: Tuesday to Thursday, 9am to 5pm; by appointment Monday, Friday, Saturday
Email: James Wu (james@field-first.com)

Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary Nature Center
Address: 127 Combs Rd, Easthampton, MA 01027
Phone: 413-584-3009
Hours: Daily, 9am – 3pm

Blue Hills Trailside Museum
Address: 1904 Canton Ave, Milton, MA 02186
Phone: 617-333-0690
Hours: Wednesday – Sunday & Monday holidays, 9am – 4pm

Boston Nature Center
Address: 500 Walk Hill St, Mattapan, MA 02126
Phone: 617-983-8500
Hours: Daily & Most Holidays, 10am – 4pm

Broad Meadow Brook Wildlife Sanctuary Nature Center
Address: 414 Massasoit Rd, Worcester, MA 01604
Phone: 508-753-6087
Hours: Tuesday – Saturday, 9am – 4pm & Sunday, 12pm – 4pm

Broadmoor Wildlife Sanctuary Nature Center
Address: 280 Eliot St, Natick, MA 01760
Phone: 508-655-2296
Hours: Tuesday – Sunday & Monday holidays, 9am – 5pm

Drumlin Farm
Address: 208 S Great Rd, Lincoln, MA 01773
Phone: 781-259-2200
Hours: Tuesday – Sunday & Monday holidays, 9am – 5pm

Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary Nature Center
Address: 100 Felix Neck Dr, Edgartown, MA 02539
Phone: 508-627-4850
Hours: Monday – Saturday, 9 am – 4 pm

Habitat Wildlife Sanctuary Nature Center
Address: 10 Juniper Rd, Belmont, MA 02478
Phone: 617-489-5050
Hours: Tues & Thurs, 9am – 2pm, and Wed, Fri, Sat, & Sun, 9am – 5pm

Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary Nature Center
Address: 87 Perkins Row, Topsfield, MA 01983
Phone: 978-887-9264
Hours: 8:30am – 4:30pm

Joppa Flats Wildlife Sanctuary Nature Center
Address: 1 Plum Island Turnpike, Newburyport, MA 01950
Phone: 978-462-9998
Hours: Tuesday – Saturday & Monday holidays, 8:30am – 4:00pm

Long Pasture Wildlife Sanctuary Nature Center
Address: 345 Bone Hill Rd, Cummaquid, MA 02637
Phone: 508-362-7475
Hours: Tuesday – Saturday, 9am – 3pm

Magazine Beach Park Nature Center
Address: 668 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA 02139
Phone: 781-259-9500
May Hours: Saturday & Sunday, 11am – 5pm
June Hours: Saturday & Sunday, 11am – 5pm, and Friday 12pm - 8pm

Moose Hill Wildlife Sanctuary Nature Center
Address: 293 Moose Hill Parkway, Sharon, MA 02067
Phone: 781-784-5691
Hours: Tuesday – Sunday, 9am – 4pm

North River Wildlife Sanctuary Nature Center
Address: 2000 Main St, Marshfield, MA 02050
Phone: 781-837-9400
Hours: Wednesday – Friday, 10am – 3pm

Pleasant Valley Wildlife Sanctuary Nature Center
Address: 472 West Mountain Road, Lenox, MA 01240
Phone: 413-637-0320
Hours: Daily, 9am – 4pm

Stony Brook Wildlife Sanctuary Nature Center
Address: 108 North Street, Norfolk, MA 02056
Phone: 508-528-3140
Hours: Tuesday – Sunday, 9am – 4pm

Wachusett Meadow Wildlife Sanctuary Nature Center
Address: 113 Goodnow Rd, Princeton, MA 01541
Phone: 978-464-2712
Hours: Tues, Thurs, & Sat 10am – 4pm, and Wed & Fri 10am – 2pm, and Sunday & Monday holidays, 11am – 3pm

Wellfleet Wildlife Sanctuary Nature Center
Address: 291 State Highway Route 6, South Wellfleet, MA 02663
Phone: 508-349-2615
Hours: Daily, 9am – 5pm

Messaging and Media Questions

If you have questions about the best way to talk about our ballot question, get asked a policy question you don’t know the answer to, or are contacted by a reporter working on a story about Nature for MA, please contact Andrew at andrew@acfstrategies.com

Find An Event Near You

If you don’t know where to go to collect signatures, take a look at our event tracker here. You can also think about what’s in your community - for example, is there a weekly farmer’s market? Grocery store that sees decent foot traffic? Public transit stop? Local festivals, porchfests, or open market? These are all great places to go to!