Mass Audubon has named Scott McCue as its new Metro West Regional Director, including oversight of the wildlife sanctuaries Broadmoor in Natick, Drumlin
Farm in Lincoln, Habitat Education Center in Belmont, and Waseeka in Hopkinton.

Mass Audubon has been named one of 10 organizations from throughout the country to be accepted by the Lawrence Hall of Science and Justice Outside to participate in the Working Toward Racial Equity (WTRE) Workshop Series.

WTRE, based at the University of California, Berkeley, supports environmental and outdoor science organizations to foster equitable, inclusive, and culturally relevant work environments and organizations.

As the major $4 billion American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) spending bill moves toward final passage and Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker’s desk for approval, Mass Audubon leaders, who have been lobbying vigorously for investments in climate change mitigation and nature, praised the legislative conference committee for coming to an agreement this week.

Mass Audubon is embarking on an exciting new chapter in its mission to connect people and nature, through a collaboration that will establish an urban greenspace and seasonal nature center at Magazine Beach on the Charles River in Cambridge.

Partners in this community-centered initiative, which will focus on nature-based education and programming, include the City of Cambridge, Magazine Beach Partners, and the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR).

Mass Audubon’s annual “Hike-a-thon” takes place Friday through Sunday, November 26-28. For this year’s Hike-a-thon, Mass Audubon continues to mark its 125th Anniversary by inviting individuals and families to discover the benefits of time spent outdoors by hiking at least 1.25 miles over the three-day period (or all at once!). 

Mass Audubon’s Boston Nature Center (BNC) in Mattapan has embarked on an ambitious commitment to become carbon neutral by 2022, thanks in large part to crucial $100,000 commitments from the City of Boston’s George Robert White Fund, Tern Foundation’s TernSOLAR challenge grant program, and several generous individual donors. 

Three organizations - Lowell Parks & Conservation Trust, Mass Audubon, and Mill City Grows - are working in partnership to protect an historic Lowell farm.The intent of the partnership is to create an urban wildlife sanctuary and education center at the property, known as Rollie's Farm, dedicated to local agricultural and community-based environmental education. 

As rising sea levels and stronger storms present increasing threats to the state’s shorelines, Mass Audubon is developing a new Coastal Resilience Program (CRP) to sustain beaches, salt marshes, coastal islands, and other vulnerable habitats in the face of climate change.  

Mass Audubon’s annual statewide photography contest, Picture This: Your Great Outdoors, continues through Thursday, September 30. So there's still time to enter.

Mass Audubon’s Duck Derby fundraiser at Allens Pond has long been an eagerly anticipated event each August and now the popular wildlife sanctuary on Buzzards Bay is doubling down on mid-month fun with its inaugural Summer Celebration, taking place Saturday, August 14.

The 18th annual Duck Derby takes place this year on the following Thursday, August 19.

Mass Audubon’s Boston Nature Center Wildlife Sanctuary (BNC) has been named a 2021 Best Of Boston® Winner for “Best Kids’ Classes” in the Service category of the popular annual feature.

The annual awards—presented in multiple lifestyle areas for all that is “best” in the city of Boston and beyond—have been overseen by Boston Magazine for more than four decades.

Mass Audubon has promoted Nia Keith Vice President for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice (DEIJ), a new executive-level position that will help advance organization-wide DEIJ priorities. 

In her new role, Keith will be responsible for building on and advancing the organization’s DEIJ strategy to ensure it is creating a positive, inclusive, and equitable work environment, and support the organization’s work to create greater access to nature for everyone.

Victoria Jones has been named Mass Audubon’s Chief Development Officer. Victoria, former President of Development Guild DDI, a national nonprofit management consulting firm based in Boston and New York City, brings to Mass Audubon more than 30 years of experience as a respected development executive and fundraising leader.

Bear Hole, a 1,400-acre ecologically diverse greenspace located in West Springfield and Holyoke, is now permanently protected.  

To make this vision a reality, Mass Audubon and the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) purchased a Conservation Restriction (CR) on the land. While the CR ensures that the property will never be developed, West Springfield will continue to own and manage the property. 

Mass Audubon applauds Gov. Charlie Baker’s proposal to use nearly $3 billion in federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to build back the Massachusetts economy and hardest-hit communities and residents, through investments in housing access, infrastructure, and the environment.

The statewide conservation organization looks forward to seeing Gov. Baker’s team work closely with the Legislature to achieve this effort. Mass Audubon President David J. O’Neill noted that the plan calls for $100 million to go to open space and resilient lands, as well as parks and recreation opportunities. 

Mass Audubon’s annual statewide photography contest, Picture This: Your Great Outdoors, has returned—just as people are beginning to feel more comfortable exploring and appreciating the Commonwealth’s natural beauty.

Mass Audubon is embarking on a bold plan that is built on 125 years of conservation success and focuses on tackling the urgent environmental challenges of our time—the loss of wildlife and biodiversity, the lack of inclusive and equitable access to nature, and the fight to address climate change.

Over the past several weeks, Mass Audubon has received a number of requests from members and stakeholder groups to play an active role in protecting the 1,500-plus-acre Cumberland Farms property in Middleboro and Halifax.

In 2015 Mass Audubon initiated a project to enroll nearly 10,000 acres of forest on the California Air Resources Board (CARB) carbon offset market, the most rigorous in the nation. We entered the California market in good faith to commit ourselves to managing for carbon on these acres, generate income to support our mission, and support one of the most robust policies that puts a price on carbon emissions.

Mass Audubon has presented the inaugural Liz Duff Excellence in Environmental Education Award to Lisa Moore, the Environmental Education and Outreach Coordinator for the Town of Wellesley’s Natural Resources Commission. Moore was presented the award, which comes with a $1,000 gift to support her office’s programs, at the annual conference of the Massachusetts Environmental Education Society, held virtually this year March 10-13.

Bird-a-thon, Mass Audubon’s biggest annual fundraiser, is set to return Friday and Saturday, May 14-15—during peak spring migration period—when participants  of all ages and abilities will compete to identify the most bird species and complete nature activities in 24 hours.

The event begins promptly at 6 pm Friday, May 14th and ends at 6 pm on Saturday, May 15th. This year, Bird-a-thon is a major highlight as Mass Audubon celebrates its 125th anniversary—and as many more people continue to forge personal connections with nature during the pandemic.

Educators from the Falmouth, Boston, and Agawam school systems have been named 2021 Conservation Teachers of the Year by Mass Audubon, the state’s largest nature conservation organization.

They are Christine Brothers, a Falmouth High School teacher; Georgette Copeland, who teaches kindergarten and first grade at the James J. Chittick Elementary School in Boston’s Hyde Park neighborhood; and Tammy Rumplik, a teacher at the James Clark and Clifford Granger elementary schools in Agawam.

With Governor Baker’s signature on the climate Roadmap bill today, Massachusetts becomes one of a handful of jurisdictions in the world to place legal limits on climate pollution at levels consistent with the best climate science.Through the passage of this landmark bill, An Act Creating a Next-Generation Roadmap for Massachusetts Climate Policy, the state commits to reducing  greenhouse gas emissions by 50% below 1990 levels by 2030, 75% by 2040, and at least 85% by 2050. 

Mass Audubon has worked with the Town of Marshfield to acquire and keep from development 13 forested acres adjacent to the North River Wildlife Sanctuary in that South Shore community. Protecting the land enlarges an expanse of unfragmented open space in North Marshfield, an area of town near the North River that has long attracted developer interest.

Mass Audubon is one of 20 nonprofits designated by the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC) to be eligible for the second round of funding through its Universal Participation (UP) initiative, which focuses on supporting organizations as they become more accessible and inclusive.

Mass Audubon applauds Massachusetts for joining Vermont, Maryland, and Connecticut as the only states in the U.S. to place restrictions on consumer uses of neonicotinoid pesticides (known as neonics). Neonics are not only harmful to people, but they harm pollinators such as bees, butterflies, birds, and bats.

Thanks to the generosity and vision of a longtime local family, the Museum of American Bird Art (MABA) is larger by nearly three acres and can offer greater protection for Pequit Brook, which flows through the wildlife sanctuary as an important part of the greater Neponset River Watershed.

Mass Audubon has been awarded a $45,580 grant from the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management to support the creation of new curriculum that challenges students in navigating climate solutions through the use of multimedia lesson plans.

Mass Audubon’s goal to secure 67 acres of field and forest at Patten Hill in Shelburne has been realized, as the state’s largest nature conservation organization and the land’s longtime owners signed final documents Tuesday, February 16.

Make the most of Mass Audubon’s “Winter Recess,” which is offering  programs and activities beginning Saturday, February 13 and running through the end of the month that invite children and families to enjoy the outdoors in winter.

There’s a full range of fun and engaging opportunities to check out, from Vacation Week options at Mass Audubon’s statewide network of wildlife sanctuaries to at-home and online programs and “Nature Play Days,” all of which encourage families to connect with the natural world during the colder months.

Mass Audubon is pleased to announce the appointment of Michelle Manion to be Vice President of Policy and Advocacy. Manion’s position was elevated to the Vice President level, signaling Mass Audubon’s commitment to support robust climate action, and land and wildlife protection as a priority environmental policy in town halls, on Beacon Hill, and in the nation’s capital.

The Massachusetts Environmental Trust (MET) has awarded Mass Audubon a $30,000 grant to restore wetland and floodplain forest vegetation along near a half-mile of West Beaver Dam Brook at its Tidmarsh Wildlife Sanctuary in Plymouth. The award from MET, a grant program of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs whose mission is to support projects that enable innovative approaches to protect and restore natural resources, represents crucial funding for the project.

Mass Audubon’s Joppa Flats Education Center celebrates the season each year by sponsoring the Superbowl of Birding, but due to COVID-19 restrictions, this year’s competition, has been modified in scope, with resultant rules changes. The 2021 event, taking place 5 am to 5 pm Saturday, January 30, thus has been dubbed the ”Semi-Superbowl of Birding.”

Mass Audubon is disappointed by Governor Charlie Baker's veto of the state legislature's climate bill, An Act creating a next-generation roadmap for Massachusetts climate policy, and urges immediate action.

Cape Cod’s annual cold-stunned sea turtle phenomenon and the people and organizations that respond are featured in a new television nature series for BBC and Discovery, A Perfect Planet, a five-part series hosted by Sir David Attenborough premiering in the U.S. and around the world this month.

The sea turtle rescue program, which focuses on the extraordinary efforts by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, the New England Aquarium, and other partners, is featured in the final episode of the series, “Humans,” premiering Sunday, January 24.