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From the ever-changing blues and grays of the great Atlantic, to the Berkshires’ emerald hillsides and the sun struck grasslands of the Massachusetts Islands, the range of hues and shades in Massachusetts is as diverse as our landscapes and seascapes themselves.
For more than 45 years, The Nature Conservancy has conserved and restored thousands of acres of forests, rivers and coastal areas across the Commonwealth. Together with our partners, we have made tremendous progress. Forests that were once largely cleared for agriculture are now recovering. Moose, fisher and bobcat are returning and community economies are benefiting from sustainably managed woodlands. Our rivers are beginning to bounce back from decades of industrial pollution and dam-building.
Still, our lands and waters face threats greater than ever before — habitat loss, fragmentation, invasive species and climate change chief among them. Only by transforming the scale and pace of conservation and investing in science can we ensure nature’s continued ability to meet our needs. And because Massachusetts stands at a connecting place — where northern forests meet Appalachia and where Labrador and Gulf Stream currents come together off our coast — our actions here will help the balance of nature return across the entire region.
Land Protection & Restoration
Secure Funding to Complete a Comprehensive Landscape Connectivity Study for Massachusetts
The Nature Conservancy and the University of Massachusetts secured $285,000 in FY09 through the federal transportation budget to analyze how roadways in Massachusetts impact wildlife. Increased funding for this pioneering study will help the Conservancy, UMass and other partners determine the best locations for connecting terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems — a critical strategy as animals move in response to a changing climate.
Get facts about our plan to keep habitats together.
Increase Federal Investment in the Land and Water Conservation Fund
The LWCF has been responsible for protecting some of America’s greatest national treasures, including the Great Sands Dunes National Park, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and the Everglades. Increased funding for this program would stimulate state and local conservation of open space and wildlife habitat by providing matching federal funds for qualifying projects.
Visit the National Park’s
Forests
Complete Weed It Now in the Berkshires
This year, the final $60,000 was secured in FY09 Department of Agriculture funding for the Conservancy to complete Weed It Now, a $1 million effort to remove invasive plants from 9,000 acres of critical forest habitat that has become a national model for large-scale restoration. Increased funding to complete the program will help protect the Berkshires’ forests as human activity and changing weather patterns threaten to carry invasives further into our forests.
Learn about Weed It Now on our Berkshires page.
Secure Funding to Combat the Invasion of Forest Pests and Pathogens
Many of America’s trees and forests are being destroyed by invasive insects and diseases. These invaders are removing entire species of trees from our forests and neighborhoods, threatening our air, water and way of life. As new outbreaks of invasive pests like the Asian longhorned beetle and emerald ash borer continue to be found, developing and testing both detection and damage-mitigation strategies is becoming increasingly important.
Download our fact sheet to read more about our plan to eradicate the Asian longhorned beetle. (.pdf, 345KB)
Fresh Water
Secure Funding to Continue a Study of 14 Major Dams on the Connecticut River
The Conservancy has secured $191,000 in FY09 funding and is pursuing FY10 funding for the Conservancy’s basin-wide model of flow in the Connecticut River watershed. This study will enable the Conservancy to help the Army Corps of Engineers determine how best to maintain important uses like flood control and hydropower generation while improving conditions for species like Atlantic salmon and shortnose sturgeon and bolstering the river’s health and recreational value.
Read an Article about the Connecticut River Flow Study
Oceans & Coasts
Increase federal investment in National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)/Nature Conservancy Community Based Restoration Program Fund
The shared goal of the projects funded under this partnership is to protect marine biodiversity though habitat restoration with an emphasis on science, community-based cooperation and strong collaboration. Since 2001, more than $4,800,000 in NOAA funding and $5,700,000 in funding and in-kind match from the Conservancy have supported 85 projects in 15 states throughout the country. These funds have supported the Conservancy’s oyster restoration work in Wellfleet Bay with Mass Audubon, and can also be used for broader shellfish and seagrass restoration efforts.
Increase funding to NOAA, U.S. Geological Survey and the Army Corps of Engineers to further LiDAR mapping of the shoreline, including the nearshore waters of the coast
LiDAR information (remote-sensing technology that uses Light Image Detection and Ranging) gives a three-dimensional picture of the ground and vegetation that can help with habitat classification, restoration efforts and in sea level rise studies.
Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): Photo © Jerry and Marcy Monkman (A wood frog, Rana sylvatica, is camouflaged against leaves on the forest floor); Photo © Jerry and Marcy Monkman (Autumn view of the west branch of the Westfield River on the Connecticut River tributary in Chester, Massachusetts.)
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