Ms. G returns to Mass Audubon’s Drumlin Farm Wildlife Sanctuary in Lincoln for Groundhog Day on Thursday, February 2, ready to make her annual prognostication on how much more winter we can expect. According to folklore, if Ms. G—the Official Groundhog of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts—sees her shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter. If not, we can look forward to an early spring. 

Chatham resident Kimberly Robbins’s striking image of a Great Egret balancing on one foot with wings spread was named the Grand-Prize Winner in Mass Audubon’s 2022 photography contest, Picture This: Your Great Outdoors.

The statewide conservation organization’s annual photo competition attracted more than 7,000 submissions from hundreds of shutterbugs of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities.

A new survey has found that Massachusetts residents from every region of the Commonwealth overwhelmingly support additional public funding for land conservation and outdoor recreation that protects land, air, water, and habitats that allow both people and wildlife to thrive.

Mass Audubon, the state’s largest nature conservation organization, held its Annual Meeting Wednesday evening, November 2, at the Museum of Science in Boston, energized by the theme of Hope. Urgency. Action, and presenting several environmental awards.

Governor Charlie Baker was presented with the Nature of Massachusetts Award. The award goes to an “individual or group, to a business, government or non-government organization, or other entity, which has furthered the cause of conservation, and environmental protection or which has broadened the public awareness of the nature of Massachusetts.” 

We are grateful that the conference committee invested in open space, outdoor recreation, ecological restoration, and climate action as part of a final package on economic development and relief, including funds particularly for environmental justice communities.

Mass Audubon has honored educators in New Bedford, Westhampton, and Attleboro as 2022 Conservation Teachers of the Year. Nature-based education is central to the mission of Mass Audubon, the largest nature conservation organization in New England. Honorees include Jocelyn Chin, who teaches grades 5-8 at Our Sisters’ School in New Bedford; Tara O’Brien, who teaches grades 9-12 at Hampshire Regional High School in Westhampton; and the Fifth Grade Team at Coelho Middle School in Attleboro. 

The project to protect Rollie’s Farm in Lowell, which will be transformed into an urban wildlife sanctuary, environmental education center, and community food-growing center, has received $1 million from the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) Grant Program.

The 20-acre land conservation project is a collaboration among Mass Audubon, the Lowell Parks & Conservation Trust, and Mill City Grows.

Mass Audubon has introduced an Environmental Fellowship Program (EFP) designed to support early career professionals with identities who have been historically under-represented in the environmental and conservation fields. The program garnered an impressive pool of more than 300 applicants for the five fellowship positions—a solid indication that there is a desire and demand among recent graduates for such career-launching programs.

Mass Audubon is collaborating with noted Brookline documentarian Aynsley Floyd to present her latest film, “Turkey Town,” Tuesday evening, September 20, at the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline. Strong advance ticket sales prompted the event to move the 7-9 p.m. screening/panel discussion to the theatre’s largest viewing room, the 432-seat Moviehouse 1.

Mass Audubon’s annual statewide photography contest, Picture This: Your Great Outdoors, is down to its final few weeks, but still encouraging shutterbugs of all abilities to enter.

The fourth-annual Arcadia Folk Festival at Mass Audubon’s Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary is less than a month away! Presented by premier concert promoter Signature Sounds, the festival will take place at the popular wildlife sanctuary in the heart of the Connecticut River Valley on Saturday, September 17, from 10 am to 6:30 pm.

“Remarkably, after decades of near-misses on major federal proposals to address climate change, the U.S. Congress has passed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) which includes $370 billion for climate and clean energy measures. It’s an extraordinary and historic moment, heralding the most important climate legislation ever passed in this country – and it comes just after Gov. Baker signed a landmark climate and offshore wind bill into law Thursday in Massachusetts.

With Governor Baker’s signature today of the bill for climate and offshore wind developed over months of negotiation between Senate and House leaders, Massachusetts continues its track record as a global leader in regulating climate pollution. In their legislation, the  legislature set forth an exciting set of policies designed to enable the ambitious reductions in greenhouse (GHG) emissions required by the Next-Generation Climate Roadmap. 

Working with nonprofit partners, state environmental agencies, private donors, and municipalities, Mass Audubon has helped conserve more than 800 acres in two projects along the Route 2 corridor north of the Quabbin Reservoir.

These land protection achievements align with the statewide conservation organization’s Action Agenda, which prioritizes promoting and stewarding resilient landscapes.

A group of land conservation and environmental organizations including Mass Audubon advocating on behalf of the Massachusetts Public Lands Preservation Act (or PLPA), issued the following statement upon conclusion of the formal 2021-2022 legislative session:

"We are disappointed that the Conference Committee did not resolve differences between the House and Senate versions of the PLPA before Sunday’s session deadline. We call on the members of the Committee to continue working towards an agreement that can pass the Legislature during an informal session this year."

Mass Audubon has a proud 126-year history of protecting the nature of Massachusetts, conserving some of the most spectacular places across the state, saving wildlife and the habitats they depend on, and educating millions of students and adults.  

We made a commitment two years ago to embed the principles of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice into all aspects of our work. This work represents a sincere commitment to making Mass Audubon an inclusive and equitable organization, and ensuring we create an environment of belonging across all of our wildlife sanctuaries. 

Mass Audubon applauds President Joe Biden’s visit to Brayton Point in Somerset today, to declare our changing climate as a Code Red for humanity and flag the need for urgent action by the U.S. Congress.

For the second straight year, Mass Audubon is partnering with the state Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) on its popular “Summer Nights” series, which engages young people in urban neighborhoods across the Commonwealth through positive, enriching experiences with nature. 

Mass Audubon is doubling its number of locations to six this summer, offering programs in the Boston communities of Dorchester, Mattapan and Jamaica Plain, as well in Cambridge, Milton, and Stoughton. 

Mass Audubon’s annual statewide photography contest, Picture This: Your Great Outdoors, is again up and running, and welcoming shutterbugs of all ages and backgrounds. The 2022 competition runs through Friday, September 30.

“Today’s Supreme Court ruling in West Virginia v EPA now sharply curtails the EPA’s ability to regulate climate inducing pollution under the Clean Air Act. This is a disastrous decision, and makes it clearer than ever that we need Congress to act on climate,” explains David J. O’Neill, President, Mass Audubon.

Bird-a-thon, Mass Audubon’s largest statewide fundraiser and popular birding competition, returns Friday and Saturday, May 13 and 14, with a stronger-than-ever commitment to support the statewide conservation organization’s important work.

On Earth Day Friday, April 22, Mass Audubon’s Boston Nature Center staff, supporters, and civic leaders will gather at the 67-acre wildlife sanctuary in Mattapan for a ribbon-cutting to officially announce it has achieved net-zero energy status.

Join Mass Audubon and community partners for the Nature in the City Spring Season Kick-off, taking place Saturday afternoon, April 23, at Magazine Beach Park on the Cambridge side of the Charles River. 

The free, 1-4 pm drop-in event is designed to encourage all who stop by to learn more about nature within the city and beyond, while celebrating spring, when birds are returning and trees and flowers are blooming. 

With unprecedented numbers of people finding respite in the outdoors and connecting with the natural world during the pandemic, Earth Day (Friday, April 22) has never been more anticipated. Mass Audubon, the largest nature-based conservation organization in New England, is responding to the moment by planning an entire month’s worth of activities and programming, geared toward caring for the environment and one another.

Mass Audubon’s Blue Hills Trailside Museum is proactively moving all exhibit birds into indoor aviaries due to concerns about avian influenza, which is highly contagious and could be fatal to some of the birds.

On Wednesday, the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR) confirmed the presence of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in the state. Avian influenza can be spread in various ways from flock to flock, including by wild birds, through contact with infected poultry, by equipment, and caretakers’ clothing.

Mass Audubon’s annual Birders Meeting returns for its 30th year with a pair of Sunday-Monday virtual gatherings March 6-7 and 13-14, promising an especially engaging and educational series of programming focusing on birds of prey.

The Concord Museum is pleased to collaborate with Mass Audubon on the special exhibition, Alive with Birds: William Brewster in Concord, opening in the Museum’s Wallace Kane Gallery on March 4, 2022 through September 5, 2022. Alive with Birds is the first and most comprehensive exhibition on William Brewster (1851 -1919), the first president of Mass Audubon and one of the country’s earliest advocates for the protection of birds and their habitats.

Ms. G., the official Groundhog of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, emerged from her annual mid-winter slumber at Mass Audubon’s snow-covered Drumlin Farm Wildlife Sanctuary in Lincoln Tuesday morning—and did not see her shadow, predicting an early spring. Drumlin Farm hosted its annual Climate Action Day/Groundhog Day event Tuesday at 10 am to an audience of virtual onlookers via Drumlin Farm's Facebook page.

The facial expression on a river otter at a west-of-Boston pond was enough to earn the image top honors in Mass Audubon’s annual statewide photography contest, Picture This: Your Great Outdoors.

Mass Audubon has named Jennifer Madson its new Central Regional Director, whose role includes oversight of more than a dozen wildlife sanctuaries in central Massachusetts, in communities extending from the Route 2 corridor south to the Connecticut border and west to the Quabbin Reservoir watershed.