Saving Wildlife Means Protecting Their Homes: Why I'm Voting Yes on 6

My love of wildlife began when I was six years old, after my father rescued a litter of orphaned opossums whose mother had been struck by a car. Today, as a licensed wildlife rehabilitator and founder of Giaquinto Wildlife Center, I work to give injured and orphaned animals that same second chance. But caring for wildlife has taught me something important: an animal's recovery is only part of the story. We also have to think about the world we're sending it back into.

Through my work with Bella, our educational ambassador barn owl, I've met thousands of people who care deeply about Massachusetts wildlife. Bella helps people understand the important role predators play in healthy ecosystems, including controlling rodent populations naturally. But birds of prey need safe hunting grounds, just as turtles need clean wetlands and foxes need connected forests and fields. When habitats are polluted, fragmented, or destroyed, the animals we work so hard to protect face an uncertain future.

Massachusetts is losing more than 10,000 acres of natural and working lands annually. Development is dividing forests and other wildlife habitats into smaller, disconnected pieces, making it harder for animals to find food, shelter, and safe passage. As a rehabilitator, I see why protecting habitat matters. We cannot care for individual animals without also considering the health of the landscapes they depend on.

Question 6 proposes a Nature for All Fund, supported by existing sales tax revenue rather than a new tax. Subject to legislative appropriation, the fund could help protect and restore forests, wetlands, waterways, and connected natural habitats across Massachusetts.

I began this work because I believe every wild animal deserves a chance to survive. Now, as a mother, I think about the wildlife my daughter and future generations will encounter. I want them to inherit a Massachusetts where owls still hunt over open fields, turtles can move safely between wetlands, and healthy forests support the extraordinary diversity of animals that call our state home.

Alyssa Giaquinto is a wildlife rehabilitator and founder of Giaquinto Wildlife Center.