NEWS RELEASE
Contact: Camaryn Sapienza, 630-699-9865 (m), csapienza@newenglandlegal.org
New England Legal Foundation Pushes Back Against Activists’ Misguided Cranberry Moratorium
August 27, 2024 — The New England Legal Foundation today urged Gov. Maura Healey and her administration to reject environmental activists’ call for moratorium on cranberry bog mining for sand and gravel, critical natural resources for local cranberry farming, calling any such moratorium “unconstitutional” as well as misguided.
“The proposed moratorium would violate cranberry farmers’ constitutional rights, and Gov. Healey should reject it. This would be a brutal blow to the economic health of this historic and vital sector of our economy,” said NELF President Daniel B. Winslow.
Cranberries have been grown in southeastern Massachusetts for 400 years without harm to our clean water and environment. Sand is critically important to growing cranberries and allows farmers to minimize the use of insecticides and fungicides.
The New England Legal Foundation examined the law of sand in a white paper last year, Shifting Sands of the Dover Amendment: The Crucial Role of Sand in Massachusetts Agriculture and the Quest for Legal Clarity. NELF concluded that agricultural rights are historic in Massachusetts and are deeply embedded in the state constitution.
While the Commonwealth continues to produce 28% of America’s cranberries, it’s fallen to second place in statewide production, behind Wisconsin.
The Massachusetts cranberry industry creates $1.7 billion in annual economic impact and supports 6,392 jobs, according to a Farm Credit East study. There are nearly 13,000 acres of cranberry bogs across southeastern Massachusetts.
“This unconstitutional opposition to local farming puts jobs and tax revenue at risk,” said Winslow. “If activists are looking to help something that is endangered, they should use their energy to try to save the endangered cranberry industry in Massachusetts, instead of trying to kill it.”
Photo credit: Ted S. Warren/AP Photo
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About the New England Legal Foundation
Founded in 1977, the New England Legal Foundation (NELF – www.newenglandlegal.org) is the leading non-partisan, non-profit public interest law firm in the region dedicated to economic liberty. NELF’s ongoing mission is to champion free enterprise, property rights, limited government based on rule of law, and inclusive economic growth. We believe that free enterprise is a foundational value of a democratic society and the best opportunity for people to lift themselves to prosperity.