The Trustees have been working to restore the Great Marsh on the North Shore. Photo: Krista Photography
On Thursday, May 8, 2025, a coalition of Massachusetts environmental, conservation, and community organizations met at the State House to launch a campaign for An Act Providing Nature for All (H.901 / S.597). The bill was filed by Representative Natalie M. Blais, 1st Franklin, Representative Samantha Montaño, 15th Suffolk, and Senator Paul R. Feeney, Bristol and Norfolk. The coalition, known as Nature for Massachusetts, includes The Trustees, and is advocating on behalf of the bill that proposes to create a permanent Nature for All Fund.
That fund would exist “for the purposes of acquisition, restoration, or improvement of nature to create parks and trails; protect forests, farms, wildlife habitat, and water resources; and advance climate resiliency and environmental justice goals. By setting aside just a portion of the revenue generated from the sporting goods sales tax, we would be able to dedicate as much as $100 million every year for the Nature for All Fund without any increase in taxes,” according to the coalition’s website.
Trustees' restoration work at The Great Marsh is just one project that could benefit from this bill.
Cynthia Dittbrenner, Trustees Vice President of Natural Resources, spoke at the campaign launch event at the State House to voice Trustees’ support for the bill.
“People’s connection with nature is what inspires them to steward it,” Cynthia shared. “The funding this legislation would generate would be put to good use by The Trustees, allowing us to continue important work in land protection and nature-based climate solutions across the Commonwealth.”
Several Trustees’ efforts could benefit from this legislation, spanning from restoration efforts at the Great Marsh on the North Shore, to protecting rare species habitat near Bartholomew’s Cobble in Sheffield. Other projects that could benefit include forest resiliency and protection efforts in the Quabbin Reservoir and marsh resilience work with the Neponset River Watershed Association in the Boston area.
“These efforts are all critical to the state’s land conservation goals,” Dittbrenner shared. “They also provide recreational opportunities for Massachusetts residents and visitors and play a key role in sequestering carbon,” she continued. “The Trustees is proud to stand today with our peers in conservation to support this legislation. We are ready to get to work to get it passed.”
