Gov. Maura Healey joined environmental advocates and local officials at Hammond Pond in Newton the morning of August 30 to rally in support of Question 6, a statewide ballot initiative that would dedicate existing sales-tax revenue from sporting goods for use in water and land conservation.
The rally was organized by Nature for Massachusetts, a coalition of more than 90 environmental, conservation, and community organizations supporting the measure. Organizers said the initiative could generate up to $100 million annually for conservation efforts without creating a new tax. (It would dedicate sporting-goods sales tax revenue, currently being collected for general purposes, to the conservation efforts.)
Speaking at the Hammond Pond Reservation, Emily Norton, executive director of the Charles River Watershed Association and a former Newton city councilor, emphasized the local significance of the measure…