MASSACHUSETTS AUDUBON SOCIETY INC

Mass audubon utilizes and develops scientific knowledge to support its longstanding tradition as an organization which uses science as the underpinning for its education, land protection, advocacy and habitat stewardship activities. Current research and/or ecological management work focuses on the protection, restoration, and stewardship of selected massachusetts habitats such as grasslands, coastal heathlands and salt marshes. In addition, monitoring of key groups of organisms such as birds, amphibians, invertebrates and plants continues across the state in order to provide an important baseline to evaluate changing environmental conditions associated with climate change and land development. Mass audubon has also developed and implements an invasive species management strategy to protect the integrity of its lands as well as to provide guidance for other landowners throughout the state.mass audubon lands play a critical role in the delivery of its mission, and its land protection efforts focus on conserving ecologically significant tracts of land adjacent to existing wildlife sanctuaries, thereby protecting and enhancing their biological integrity and viability as program sites. Mass audubon also advances the protection of selected high priority focus areas beyond its existing wildlife sanctuaries through collaboration with state and local public agencies and local and regional land trusts. Collectively, these protection priorities include a wide range of massachusetts habitats.

Mass audubon released its landmark solar siting study entitled growing solar, protecting nature. The report shows that massachusetts does not need to sacrifice the nature we have to build the solar energy we need. The research demonstrates that by building more solar on rooftops, parking lots, and already-developed areas, massachusetts can meet our goal of reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 while conserving almost all of our remaining farmlands and forests.in a huge win for horseshoe crabs, the massachusetts' marine fisheries advisory commission voted to ban the harvest of horseshoe crabs for bait during their breeding and egg-laying season. Thanks to the support of nearly 100 advocates who joined us at two public hearings, and more than 2,600 people who spoke up to support stronger horseshoe crab protections in massachusetts by submitting written comments, this transformative decision could start horseshoe crabs on the road to recovery. Selected key advocacy accomplishments in fy 2024: with encouragement and support from mass audubon, over 40 cities and towns have taken steps toward launching local campaigns to curb harmful new rodent poisons which are killing wildlife, especially birds of prey. These community campaigns will be key to reducing the use of these poisons in massachusetts, and in turn helping protect wildlife like raptors, foxes, coyotes, and other predators that help keep massachusetts' ecosystems in balance. Mass audubon and our partners offered recommendations for accelerating the build-out of clean energy in massachusetts while protecting the needs of ratepayers, communities, forests, farms, and wetlands. A climate bill was filed that would have translated those recommendations into action, but despite strong outreach from advocates, time ran out for the legislature to pass the bill during the regular legislative session. We and our partners are still working to get this bill passed this year in informal session, so the state does not wait another two years to streamline responsibly sited clean energy projects.