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The Nature Conservancy in Massachusetts Home About the Chapter Contact Us News Room Places We Protect Field Trips and Events Government Relations Volunteer Ways of Giving |
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Massachusetts is the birthplace of conservation. America’s first national parks, the land trust movement and conservation pioneers like Henry David Thoreau all got their start in the Commonwealth. With this proud tradition of conserving natural areas, our state is poised to lead the way in protecting the health and diversity of our landscapes and seascapes for generations to come.
However, with cuts in public funding and escalating pressures from development and global climate change, our legacy of natural resource protection is at risk. Each day over 40 acres of land are lost to development in Massachusetts, and wildlife habitat is declining at an alarming rate. Meanwhile, climate change models predict more frequent extreme rainfalls in New England, making the protection and restoration of lands that act as “living filters” for floodwaters even more urgent.
Conservation requires action on the ground and in the water across Massachusetts to protect and restore valuable ecosystems. But we cannot accomplish our work without active public partners. Lasting results depend upon coordinated and targeted action to change state, federal and international policies.
On the State Level
We develop legislative policies relating to the Conservancy’s conservation priorities, comment on proposed development projects that impact our conservation targets and serve on advisory committees to develop state rules and regulations. In tandem with partner organizations, we work with the Administration and the Massachusetts Legislature to increase funding for conservation, reform existing laws and develop incentives for habitat protection.
On the Federal Level
The last decade has seen dramatic rollbacks of federal environmental laws, regulations, policies and standards. We work closely with the Massachusetts Congressional delegation and the Conservancy’s government relations staff in Washington D.C. on issues that impact our state’s freshwater, forest, coastal and marine resources, helping us move toward a healthier and more sustainable future.
Confronting Climate Change
The international scientific community has come to a consensus: Climate change is happening now and human activity is primarily responsible. Mandatory policies are critical to decreasing emissions of heat-trapping gases and reducing the impacts of climate change on people and nature. The Conservancy is mobilizing governments to enact policies that address the threat of climate change to the lands and waters on which we all depend.
Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): Photo © Cheryl Rose (Portrait of a crab spider); Photo © Jerry and Marcy Monkman (Fly-fishing on the West branch of the Westfield River.); Photo © Jerry and Marcy Monkman (View of ferns and dense understory on the riverbanks of the Mill River).
