& Healthy Soils Initiative
Following the completion of the Healthy Soils Action Plan in 2023, The Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs launched the Massachusetts Healthy Soils Initiative.
When the state released its Healthy Soils Action Plan, Massachusetts became the first state to complete a soils action plan for all land uses (including agricultural, forest, wetlands, and developed lands).
The plan includes suggestions to, among other programs: protect healthy forested soils through conservation of additional parcels; enroll at least half of all existing agricultural lands in soil health plans by 2030; and to continue funding a program that demonstrates healthy soil practices in residential and commercial developed areas.
That led to Healthy Soils Initiative, which has provided funding for projects that help reach the goals outlined by the Healthy Soils Action Plan.
From the 2023 Article by American Farmland Trust, “An Action Plan for Healthy Soils in Massachusetts:
“In 2019, Massachusetts became a national leader in advancing soil health practices by becoming the first state to commission a statewide Healthy Soils Action Plan. The report was commissioned by the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs after Bob O’Connor, then Director of the Division of Conservation Services, heard presentations made in 2016 on healthy soils made to the Mass Land Trust Coalition by Sharon McGregor of Biodiversity for a Livable Climate and Jack Kittredge of NOFA/Mass.
After nearly four years since the drafting process began, the Plan was finalized and released with the outgoing Baker-Polito Administration in January 2023. The Healthy Soils Action Plan’s research, drafting, and production was led by Regenerative Design Group, a Greenfield, MA-based worker-owned regenerative land use planning and design firm. The project team included staff from Linnean Solutions, Perennial Solutions, and the Massachusetts Chapter of the Northeast Organic Farming Organization (NOFA/Mass). A Working Group consisting of representatives of dozens of state and federal agencies, conservation and environmental groups, knowledgeable stakeholders, and scientific advisors participated in multiple planning calls and listening sessions over the course of the 18-month planning process.”
Read more about the program here
Read our article: A Look at Healthy Soils Policy Wins Since 2018