Senator Brian A. Joyce, a longtime supporter of MA Audubon’s Blue Hills Trailside Museum, is pleased to announce that the recently passed 2011 Senate Budget includes language in support of the Trailside Museum, with funding possibilities up to $425,000.

The Trailside Museum offers visitors many affordable environmental, cultural, and educational programs, and has continually provided a well-maintained and operated access point to the 7,000-acre Blue Hills Reservation.

In March, Joyce was successful in obtaining a $175,000 grant for Trailside from the Department of Conservation and Recreation’s Partnerships Matching Funds Program. In recent years, the Museum has been the target of budget cuts that have forced the Museum to reduce its staff, close for several days a week and limit free and reduced rate programs.

“The Trailside Museum is a wonderful educational resource and a positive addition to my district, and I am hopeful that the budget conference committee will look favorably upon this proposal,” said Senator Joyce.

This proposal now goes before the budget conference committee. The committee, comprised of members of both the Senate and House, will soon begin work on a final compromise version of the FY 2011 budget. The 2011 fiscal year begins July 1.