June 27, 2005

Secretary Douglas Foy
Office of Commonwealth Development
100 Cambridge Street, Suite 1010
Boston, MA 02114

Dear Secretary Foy:

The undersigned organizations have come together to ask you to urge Governor Romney not to veto the gains the environmental budget and its programs have made in the Conference Committee's FY2006 report.

The legislature has passed a budget that includes an increase of $14.8 million over FY2005 funding for environmental programs. This increase came about in response to the sustained efforts of environmental advocates to raise awareness of the critical need for adequate funding of the commonwealth's environmental programs.

The environmental budget has lost almost a third of its purchasing power over the last four years. The Conference Committee FY2006 report represents a major step toward restoring a wide range of important programs, from water quality to hazardous waste site cleanup to the state's parks, that have suffered deep cuts during those years.

Should the governor decide to veto the increases in environmental programs, we will be urging the legislature to override those vetoes and provide the funding our agencies and programs need. But we would much prefer celebrating together the progress made in this year's budget and then working together to restore Massachusetts to its rightful place of environmental leadership. Please urge the governor to join us in this effort.

Sincerely,

Tad Ames, Executive Director
Berkshire Natural Resources Council

Ed Becker, Executive Director
Essex County Greenbelt Association

Marica Benes, Executive Director
Massachusetts Association of Health Boards

Julia Blatt, Executive Director
Organization for the Assabet River

Peter Bowne, Executive Director
Boston GreenSpace Alliance

Andrew Celentano, Chairman
Friends of the Middlesex Fells

Jack Clarke, Advocacy Director
Massachusetts Audubon Society

William "Buzz" G. Constable, Chairman
Lincoln Land Conservation Trust

Janet Domenitz, Executive Director
MASSPIRG

Judith Eiseman, Chair
The Kestrel Trust

Eileen Fielding, Executive Director
Hoosic River Watershed Association

Rachel Fletcher, Executive Director
Housatonic River Restoration

Alan French, Chairman
Bay Circuit Alliance

Benno Friedman, Founding Board Member
Housatonic River Initiative

Deborah Garner, Administrator
Massachusetts Wetland Scientists

Maggie Geist, Executive Director
Association to Preserve Cape Cod

Jim Gomes, President
Environmental League of Massachusetts

Ed Himlan
Massachusetts Watershed Coalition

Judy Jacobs, Executive Director
Friends of the Blue Hills

Ken Kipen
Hilltown Anti-Herbicide Coalition

Ronald McAdow, Executive Director
Sudbury Valley Trustees

Jay McCaffrey, Director
Massachusetts Sierra Club

Bernard J. McHugh, Coordinator
Mass. Land Trust Coalition

Kathy Orlando, Project Coordinator
Sheffield Land Trust

Steve Pearlman, Water Resource Analyst
Neponset River Watershed Association

Tom Powers, Executive Director
Island Alliance

Luis Prado, Department Director
Chelsea Board of Health

Mark Primack, Executive Director
Wildlands Trust of Southeastern Massachsuetts

Ken Pruitt, Executive Director
Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissions

Mark Rasmussen, Executive Director
The Coalition for Buzzards Bay

Dan Ruben, Vice President
Newton Green Decade Coalition

Gwen Ruta, Director
Environmental Defense

Kate Ryan
Hoffmann Bird Club

Mike Ryan, Executive Director
Friends of the Middlesex Fells

Peter Shelley, Vice President
Conservation Law Foundation

Tara N. Tradd
Cohasset Board of Health

Renata von Tscharner, President
Charles River Conservancy

Wesley Ward, Director of Land Conservation
The Trustees of Reservations

Pamela B. Weatherbee
Green Berkshires

Mettie Whipple
Eel River Watershed Association

Geoff Wilkinson, Executive Director
Massachusetts Public Health Association

Jane Winn, Founder
Berkshire Environmental Action Team

Julie Wormser, Director of Policy
Appalachian Mountain Club

Samantha Woods, Executive Director
North and South Rivers Watershed Association