BOSTON — On the first day of shotgun season, Emma Ellsworth traded her hunting post for a hike to the State House steps to show her support for nature and conservation.
“When we protect our open spaces, our forests, our farms, the places where we go to hunt and fish, source local food and local timbers we’re also protecting the air we breathe and our drinking water, we’re protecting wildlife,” said Ellsworth, executive director of Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust.
Ellsworth, who is also vice chair of the Massachusetts Fisheries and Wildlife Board, joined dozens of others donning outdoor gear for a hike across the Charles River up Beacon Hill Monday to rally for a ballot initiative that could generate $100 million annually for water and nature conservation and restoration efforts.
Subject to appropriation by the Legislature, the measure would steer sales tax revenue from sporting goods like golf clubs, RVs and camping gear into a new “Nature for All Fund.” The goal is to conserve and restore land to protect drinking water, streams, rivers, lakes, coasts, farms and forests. Funding could also support land and natural resources with “indigenous cultural significance.”
The proposed ballot question would also create a 15-member oversight board, tasked with setting rules on how the money should be allocated and aligned with “environmental justice principles.”
The measure is similar to legislation (H 901 / S 597) that has bipartisan support. A draft of the bill passed the Joint Committee on Environment and Natural Resources and is awaiting action in the Senate Ways and Means Committee.
David O’Neill, CEO and president of nature-based organization Mass Audubon, said the supporters’ top objective is to see the legislation pass. But if it doesn’t pass, they are prepared to get it on the 2026 ballot.
“Our hope would be that the Legislature passes this bill. But if they don’t, we’ll go to the ballot and we’ll win there,” O’Neill said.
Mass Audubon is part of a coalition of dozens of organizations known as Nature for Massachusetts backing the proposed ballot initiative and legislation.
While the legislation has shown some success so far on Beacon Hill, O’Neill said a study released this spring showed promise in taking the measure to the ballot.
In June, Mass Audubon released a report that showed the state’s goal of permanently protecting at least 30% of its land and waters by 2030 would require at least $350 million in annual funding and protecting 100,000 more acres. Once that goal is met, the state’s “40×50” goal of protecting at least 40% of its land and waters by 2050 would require another 500,000 acres of land protected and at least $400 million in annual funding from 2030 to 2050. Current state conservation funding sits around $25 million each year and the report recommended establishing a dedicated source of state funding for conservation.
O’Neill said the organization’s polling results in the spring showed respondents felt “extraordinarily positive” about the ballot proposal. The polling results are not publicly available.
”I think we have a lot of public support for this. Clean water and nature is important for everyone,” he said.
According to its website, Trust for Public Land, a national nonprofit focused on protecting nature, offers help to state and local organizations for conservation-focused campaigns with a 84% success rate in getting ballot measures approved. Georgia, Texas and Virginia have successfully implemented similar proposals for steering funds for conservation, said Jodi Valenta, associate vice president and Massachusetts State Director for the Trust for Public Lands.
“Massachusetts can follow this proven fiscally responsible path and dedicate $100 million annually to protect clean water, conserve forests, create trails and vibrant parks and ensure everyone has access to the outdoors,” Valenta said at Monday’s rally.
The $100 million estimate is based on the $2.49 billion in sporting goods sales reported in Massachusetts in 2022, said coalition spokesperson Andrew Farnitano. If it’s approved, the measure wouldn’t cut into the portion of sales tax already earmarked for the MBTA and Massachusetts School Building Authority. However, it would slice into the pool of sales tax revenues available for state budget writers to use on myriad ways.
In fiscal 2025, the state collected more than $9.6 billion in sales and use taxes, according to the Department of Revenue.
The initiative petition was able to get certified with a proposal to earmark funds to a specific cause, possibly opening the door for future initiatives to do the same by matching the question’s language. Ballot proposals that make a “specific appropriation of money from the state’s treasury” are deemed unconstitutional and would likely not be certified by Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell’s office.
Petition supporters said they gathered more than 90,000 certified signatures, exceeding the 74,574 required to move forward in ballot process, Farnitano said. Supporters of the proposal carried boxes of petition sheets into the State House to bring them to the secretary of state ahead of the Wednesday filing deadline.