Legislative Priorities

• Strategy
• State
• Municipal
• Federal

Strategy
The time has come to reinvigorate the spirit and ethic of stewardship among elected and appointed officials, citizens, and advocates-a collective responsibility to protect, manage, restore, and enhance the natural resources of the Commonwealth-in keeping with the natural beauty of Massachusetts and the eloquent promise of our state constitution. The actions taken and not taken over the next decade by public agencies, private non-profit organizations, and the private sector to meet these challenges will permanently shape the future of the Commonwealth's landscape. Mass Audubon's Beacon Hill Legislative Affairs Office serves both as a leader and a catalyst for conservation by stimulating legislative action to protect the nature of Massachusetts.

• Setting the Conservation Agenda for the 2007-2008 Legislative Session:
  A Call for Stewardship*


• Legislative Session Strategy*

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State
Mass Audubon challenges the Patrick Administration and the Massachusetts legislature to restore overall spending for conservation to a minimum of 1% of the total operating budget. We urge Governor Patrick to reinvest in land conservation at least at the $50 million historic average achieved by prior administrations. We will work with the Patrick Administration and the Massachusetts legislature to reform existing laws through the passage of a new governance structure for ocean management, enhancements to the local zoning enabling acts, stronger oversight of Article 97 dispositions, and additional voluntary incentives for habitat protection-improving the transparency, accountability, and effectiveness of conservation for present and future generations.

2007-2008 State Conservation Legislative Priorities*

2007-2008 Other Critical State Conservation Reform Initiatives*

State Legislation Generally Opposed By Mass Audubon*

Fact Sheets

1. An Act Ammending the Conservation Restriction and Agricultural Preservation Restriction Statutes*
2. An Act Protecting the Natural and Historic Resources of the Commonwealth*

For more fact sheets, see below.

The Massachusetts Oceans Act: Charting a Course for the Bay State's Ocean Resources
On June 28, 2007 the Massachusetts legislature's Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources, and Agriculture reported favorably the Massachusetts Oceans Act (formerly entitled An Act Relative to Comprehensive Ocean Resources Management). The proposed legislation—which was drafted and filed by Mass Audubon, the Conservation Law Foundation, and the Ocean Conservancy—is the first of its kind in the United States. The bill would require the Commonwealth to develop and implement an Ocean Management Plan that would foster environmentally sustainable uses of marine resources in Massachusetts waters.

1. Fact Sheet - An Act Relative to Oceans*
2. Questions & Answers*
3. Letter from 23 non-governmental organizations in support of the Massachusetts Ocean Act*

The Massachusetts Land Conservation Incentives Act: A New Stimulus for Conservation
In September 2007, the Massachusetts legislature's Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources & Agriculture will hear the Massachusetts Land Conservation Incentives Act. The bill--which was drafted and filed by Mass Audubon and The Nature Conservancy/Massachusetts Chapter--would establish a state income tax credit for donations of land to public agencies and private non-profit conservation organizations. Fourteen other states have implemented similar income tax credit programs, which leverage existing federal charitable deductions and provide landowners an option that often makes the difference in determining whether to protect their land for future generations.

1. Fact Sheet - An Act Relative to Land Conservation Incentives*
2. Fact Sheet Developed by Mass Audubon and The Nature Conservancy*

Our Endangered Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program
The Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program mission is to protect the rare species of Massachusetts, their habitats, and the full range of natural community types to conserve the biodiversity of the Commonwealth. Heritage produces widely used conservation planning tools, such as BioMap and Living Waters, and a wide range of state agencies, non-profits, and municipalities regularly tap their expertise, e.g. by providing rare species information about potential land conservation projects and guidance incorporated at the local level by Conservation Commissions.

Mass Audubon, The Nature Conservancy, and the Environmental League of Massachusetts have launched a campaign to restore state funding to the Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program, Division of Fisheries & Wildlife. In 2004, the Heritage line item was struck from the state budget, leaving Heritage funded only by project-specific bond monies, federal aid - which covers wildlife but not natural communities or plants (of the 442 listed species, 264 are plants), a small but appreciated number of voluntary individual contributions on state income tax forms, and fees from Environmental Review under the Massachusetts Endangered Species Act. This has left Heritage in a tenuous position, leaving rare plant and natural community protection poorly supported and with uncertain and limited funds for rare species research and restoration.

1. Fact Sheet Developed by Mass Audubon and The Nature Conservancy*

Mosquito Control Reform
Protection of the public from mosquito-borne diseases, including Eastern Equine Encephalitis and West Nile Virus, is a priority public health issue. Mass Audubon supports state and local efforts to protect the public health while also protecting the Commonwealth’s environmental health.

Today, the state mosquito control system is broken. Due to an outdated and incomplete organizational structure, it is a fragmented quagmire that does not adequately include the voice of public health. Result? Each mosquito control district makes ad hoc decisions on public health and the environment with no oversight from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, except in cases of extreme emergency. This lack of a coordinated effort is not the best way to protect the public health or the environment.

Change is needed! Legislation has been filed that would improve protection of public health through better mosquito control and increased public awareness. The bill (S.B. 495) provides the Commonwealth’s public health agency a seat at the table that manages the state mosquito control program, while keeping mosquito control under the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. Existing regional mosquito control districts would be improved and coordinated, with enhanced roles for local boards of health and municipal representatives. Updated mosquito management practices would be incorporated, and Massachusetts’ citizens better protected from mosquito-borne disease.

1. Overview of State Mosquito Control Practices
2. Mosquito-borne Diseases Fact Sheet
3. Call for Reform
4. Mass Audubon's Recommendations for Reform
5. General Mosquito Reform Q & A
6. Fact Sheet on Mosquito Control Reform Bill
7. Q&A of Mosquito Control Reform Bill
8. Mosquito Control Reform Bill
9. Testimony on Mosquito Control Reform Bill

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Municipal
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has a long history of granting authority to local communities to manage their own affairs. As a result, Mass Audubon's municipal legislative advocacy is focused on encouraging municipalities to take advantage of available policy tools and statewide enabling acts to conserve natural resources of local significance.

2007-2008 Municipal Conservation Legislative Priorities*

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Federal
The Bush Administration has overseen dramatic rollbacks of America's environmental laws, regulations, policies, standards, and Executive Orders, weakening protection of our nation's air, water, public lands, and wildlife. Mass Audubon will continue to work with the Massachusetts congressional delegation to defend America's conservation legacy against continued assaults from the White House and its allies, and to guide the nation to a healthier and more sustainable future.

2007-2008 Federal Conservation Legislative Priorities*

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