Take Action to Protect Open Space in Massachusetts

We need your help NOW to pass these important bills on Beacon Hill:

Two of the Campaign's top legislative priorities - the Public Lands Preservation Act (S.2388) and the Land Conservation Tax Incentives (H.799) are in the House Committee on Ways and Means and the July 31st end of the legislative session is fast approaching!Contact your state representative TODAY and ask him/her to show support for S. 2388 and H. 799 by urging House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Robert DeLeo (D-Winthrop) to bring these two important bills to the House floor for a vote.

Public Lands Preservation Act, S. 2388

Massachusetts suffers a continual loss of open space, including public open space. Article 97 of the state constitution protects public land acquired for "natural resource purposes" (e.g., parks, conservation land, watershed). The reality is that the legislature routinely authorizes the transfer of city, town, or state lands "protected" by Article 97 into other uses, such as building sites. S. 2388 would strengthen Article 97 by requiring analysis of Article 97 land transfers before they happen, including alternatives analysis and replacement with comparable land. Text of S. 2388

Land Conservation Tax Incentives, H. 799

An Act Relative to Tax Credits for Conservation (H. 799) would give new financial incentives for property owners to conserve their land, enabling private and public conservation partners to make financially attractive offers on top priority preservation sites. It has cleared the Revenue Committee and is now in the House Committee on Ways and Means.

Nearly 60% of undeveloped land in the Bay State is privately owned and unprotected. In the Taunton River Watershed, roughly 87% of the 93,000 acres of core, sustaining habitat for rare species is currently unprotected. Many acres are lost daily to poorly planned development.

To ensure the preservation of our most critical natural resources, the state must employ a variety of tools, from improved local zoning and increased capital investments in land protection, to enhanced tax incentives for voluntary land donations by private land owners. Text of H. 799

Take Action Now! Please ask your state representative to contact Chairman Robert A. DeLeo of the House Committee on Ways and Means, and urge him and his committee to report H. 799 and S. 2388 out favorably now.

Thank you for your help!

2008 Wild and Scenic River Run Overnight Trip June 14-15

Everyone is invited to sign up now for the annual two-day TRWA trip on the Taunton River!

This popular TRWA overnight Canoe/Kayak Trip begins on Saturday June 14th on the Nemasket River, traveling to Titicut Reservation in Bridgewater for an evening program, cookout and camping, and then on downriver to Weir Riverfront Park in Taunton on Sunday, June 15th!

Please pre-register as this event is ever more popular.

Registration form and details are now posted on our website.

Please return the form no later than June 6th.

This is always a great event at which you will meet other paddlers and TRWA members. This year paddlers will begin on the Nemasket River and will travel until about 3:00 to the Titicut campsite in Bridgewater. Once there the group will set up tents, start the campfire, and enjoy a meal prepared by Arnie Danielson. The evening will be full of music, stories, and friendship.

All of this will be combined with TRWA's Quarterly Members' Meeting at 6:00 p.m. Saturday night. So come out for the evening program even if you aren't a paddler. Evening entertainment of music and ghost stories will be provided by the Taunton River Folk Festival Troubadours.

For more information, call the TRWA Office, (508) 828-1101 or email Carolyn LaMarre at director@savethetaunton.org.

Small Grants to 12 Taunton River Projects

The Taunton River Watershed Campaign, a coalition of ten environmental and planning organizations, has announced that approximately $15,000 in small grants has been awarded to 12 open space and environmental projects in the Taunton River watershed. Each of the grantees will contribute at least a one to one match in donations and volunteer or professional time to their projects.

The watershed grants include Open Space and Recreation Plans in the communities of Lakeville, Middleborough and Raynham, and to citizens groups in West Bridgewater, Hanson, Plympton and Swansea who are organizing support for the Community Preservation Act.

Also funded were trail improvements at the recently preserved Cole Property in Carver, a public awareness and outreach campaign for the Taunton River Greenway by the Greater Fall River Land Conservancy, a canoe rack at the Bridge Village Heritage Park in Berkley, ecological landscaping at a planned skate park along the Mill River in Taunton, and equipment and training so that the TEAMS organization can combat invasive plants in the Assawompsett Ponds in Middleborough and Lakeville. The grants range from under $500 to $2,500.

The Watershed Campaign’s small grants are open to cities and towns, grassroots groups and nonprofit groups working on conservation issues and land use planning to protect natural resources. This year, priority was given to projects which will result in the permanent protection of significant natural resources, the preparation of municipal open space and recreation plans, and passage of the Community Preservation Act.

Congratulations to all of the grantees!

Municipal Open Space and Recreation Plans:

Middleborough, $2,500
Raynham, $2,500
Lakeville, $2,000

Environmental Projects:

Cole Property Trail Revitalization, Carver Conservation Commission, up to $2,000
Greater Fall River Land Conservancy, public awareness & outreach of the riverfront greenway from Fall River to Freetown, $1,000
TEAMS, invasive plant training and equipment: $624
Taunton Skate Park Committee, river front landscaping and clean up of buffer zone on Mill River parcel, $1,400
Friends of the Park, canoe rack at Berkley’s Bridge Village Heritage Park, $1,400

Community Preservation Act local ballot committees:

West Bridgewater CPA Committee, $500
Preserve Hanson CPA Committee, $500
Plympton Citizens for CPA, $280
Citizens to Preserve Swansea’s Character, $280