30x30 Catalyst Fund Projects

Mass Audubon is developing a wellspring of critical biodiverse and carbon-rich land conservation projects to benefit people and wildlife and advance climate resilience in communities across Massachusetts.  

We have more than 20 Catalyst Fund land protection projects underway, totaling approximately 18,000 acres. Our land conservation team is working with landowners, regional land conservation organizations, and state and local agencies to advance these projects that will help meet the Commonwealth’s 30x30 conservation goal.

Examples of Catalyst Fund Projects

The 30x30 Catalyst Fund will support an abundance of dynamic land conservation opportunities including:

Moss Hill | 3,700 acres | Wales and Monson, MA

When complete, the Moss Hill project will protect 3,700 acres of forest in Wales and Monson, along the Massachusetts-Connecticut border. This region stands out as a less-developed area with excellent conservation values.  

The project is a collaboration with the Norcross Wildlife Foundation and a number of private landowners. Mass Audubon is seeking funding for the purchase of a conservation restriction on 11 tracts of land located in the Vinica, Delphi, Stevens and May-Brown Brook watersheds. All of the streams on these lands are designated coldwater fisheries. In a regional context, the protection of these parcels will create a conservation corridor linking Nipmuck State Forest in Connecticut with Brimfield State Forest in Massachusetts.

Project cost: $4.75 million  

Palmer Brook | 850 acres | Becket, MA

Mass Audubon is pursuing the protection of an 850-acre property in Becket with the intent to own it and care for it as a Mass Audubon wildlife sanctuary. In August 2025, we signed an option to purchase the property; a pristine, unfragmented parcel that sits adjacent to the largest, protected block of forestland in the Commonwealth—October Mountain State Forest.

Mass Audubon has been awarded a $1.25 million Landscape Partnership Program grant by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs to support the acquisition of the property. Additionally, the MA Department of Conservation and Recreation has committed $1.25 million to the project.

Project cost: $5.5 million

Richardson Brook Conservation Restriction | 287 acres | Hampden County

The Richardson Brook land is almost entirely wooded and is traversed by two watercourses—Richardson Brook to the North and a tributary of Moody Brook to the South. The forest cover on the property has not been harvested for at least 60-80 years. It is entirely mapped as BioMap Critical Natural Landscape and abuts over 1,400 acres of conserved land in the Farmington River Watershed.

Mass Audubon has been awarded $261,500 in state grant funding to purchase a conservation restriction on the property and is working to raise additional funds to leverage the 30x30 Catalyst Fund in order to close the project in 2026.

Project cost: $700,000

Support This Work

Please join us in protecting the most critical natural lands in Massachusetts—make a gift to Mass Audubon’s 30x30 Catalyst Fund today! 

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