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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 Faces of Conservation |
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Food, water, shelter, medicine and livelihoods — Massachusetts' lands and waters provide for our most basic needs.
From Plymouth’s pine barrens to the deep woods of the Berkshires, Massachusetts’ forests are our best and least-costly water filtration system, a vital nexus of a $21 billion annual tourism industry and the foundation of a wood products industry that generates over $700 million per year. Coursing through these forests and other wild, rural and urban lands, 11,000 miles of rivers and streams provide communities with drinking water, energy and scenic spots to fish, boat and swim. And where these rivers reach the sea, salt marshes and shellfish reefs sustain our fisheries and protect coastal communities from storms.
The Nature Conservancy is working to create a sustainable planet where natural habitats and human communities coexist — a world where the climate is stable and natural resources such as forests, fisheries and energy are renewable, plentiful and secure. Working together with communities, government and our conservation partners in Massachusetts, we can ensure the health and survival of lands and waters that sustain us all.
Land Protection and Restoration
Pass the Environmental Bond Bill
This legislative session we have a unique opportunity to pass one of the most important environmental bills considered by the Legislature. The $1.4 billion Environmental Bond filed by the Patrick Administration in December 2007 would funnel critical funding to support land preservation, dam removal, water supply protection and climate change adaptation.
Learn more about the Bond Bill.
Forests
Identify new public incentives to encourage private forest owners to keep working forests intact
With about 80 percent of Massachusetts forests owned by over 200,000 private individuals and families, the future of our forests is largely dependent on their decisions. A proposed new state tax income credit could provide the incentive needed to tip the balance in favor of preservation.
Learn more about Conservation Tax Incentives.
Read the Boston Globe OpEd in favor of the measure.
See the Department of Revenue Impact Analysis.
Secure funding for the Department of Conservation and Recreation to hire management and service foresters
Sustainable management of forests can ensure their long-term health and resiliency while enhancing Massachusetts’ economy through timber production. At least ten new state foresters must be permanently hired to implement and maintain Green Certification on state-owned forest lands and help citizens manage their private lands in ways that protect forest health and maintain key natural processes.
Read FAQs about Sustainable Forestry in Massachusetts.
Rivers and Streams
Achieve enforceable statewide stream flow standards
Much like the Clean Water Act guided efforts to reduce water pollution and enhance water quality, Massachusetts needs reasonable standards to ensure that our rivers and streams flow with enough water to sustain plants and animals, ensure recreational opportunities and meet both current and future water needs.
Get the facts on The Act to Protect Rivers and Streams.
Provide new incentives to remove dams
Where appropriate, removing aging and unused dams can eliminate threats to public safety, restore aquatic habitat and enhance fish passage. The Conservancy is working to streamline the dam removal permitting process, secure new public funding to remove certain dams and pass An Act Relative to the Repair, Removal and Replacement of Dams, which would help private and public dam owners manage or remove some of the 3,000 dams in Massachusetts.
Explore dam removal and other strategies in our latest report, A New Way for Water.
Coasts and Ocean
Pass comprehensive ocean management legislation
Coastal areas are already our principal ports of commerce, first line of defense against storms and a key source of food and economic livelihood. But the push to develop infrastructure like liquefied natural gas terminals, desalinization plants and gas pipelines puts ever-increasing pressure on the marine environment. In May 2008, Massachusetts passed the Ocean's Act which will establish an ocean management advisory board and a science council to ensure the long-term protection and sustainable use of Massachusetts’ ocean and coastal resources. Read about this new law on the Mass Gov site and Mass Ocean Campaign site.
Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): Photo © Cheryl Rose (Winter ice encases branches of trees in forest, Massachusetts); Photo © Cheryl Rose (Portrait of a twelve spotted skimmer dragonfly).
