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Park Equity: A ‘Novel’ Idea Charles Giuffrida and Amelia Viscay | National Recreation and Park Association | December 21, 2023 https://www.nrpa.org/parks-recreation-magazine/2024/january/park-equity-a-novel-idea/ Everyone deserves a great park, and park equity is a core goal of our profession. Our departments, however, often deal with limitations that prevent us from achieving these goals. The additional pressure on park and recreation professionals challenges us to be more innovative in providing constituents with new ways to access green spaces and other healthy leisure activities. Working to overcome these limitations, in 2023, the City of Revere (Massachusetts) Parks and Recreation Department partnered with its travel and tourism office (Next Stop Revere) and the Revere Public Library (RPL) to launch the “Be Tourists” program for residents. Not everyone has access to specialized outdoor equipment, which often limits their opportunities to go out and explore. The “Be Tourists” initiative aims to reconnect community members with nature by removing these financial burdens, making expensive outdoor equipment, such as snowshoes, camping tents and paddleboards,...

A new Massachusetts department wants you to get outdoors Rupa Shenoy and Samantha Coetzee | WBUR | September 29, 2023 https://www.wbur.org/news/2023/09/29/masschusetts-outdoor-recreation-hiking-foliage-skiing It’s fall foliage season, the time of year when people head outside to see all the fall colors New England has to offer. For many, that means a trip north, maybe to New Hampshire. But a new Massachusetts department is aimed at getting more people to  spend time outdoors here in the commonwealth. Paul Jahnige, the director of the newly-created Office of Outdoor Recreation, spoke with WBUR’s Morning Edition about the new department and what Massachusetts has to offer. Interview Highlights Highlights from this interview have been lightly edited for clarity. On why a department focused only on outdoor recreation is necessary: "It's really important that we have an office that specifically focuses on promoting all kinds of outdoor recreation, air based, water based, trail based. I'm really excited about focusing on doing that to promote outdoor recreation of all kinds in Massachusetts and also to focus on making outdoor recreation...

From building trails to opening doors: Williamsburg’s Paul Jahnige named state’s outdoor recreation chief James Pentland | Daily Hampshire Gazette | September 12, 2023 https://www.gazettenet.com/Williamsburg-native-to-lead-state-s-new-outdoor-recreation-office-52278088 A Williamsburg native with many years of experience as trails program director for the state Department of Conservation and Recreation has been tapped to head the state’s new Office of Outdoor Recreation. Paul Jahnige said he was “humbled and a little daunted” but also eager to get to work on enhancing Massachusetts outdoor opportunities. “I’m really excited about the opportunity to develop and grow this office, and to promote Massachusetts as a place to come and play,” he said after his appointment was announced Tuesday. The office was established in December by the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs with the aim of promoting and expanding outdoor recreation, and making it as welcoming and inclusive as possible, Jahnige said. He said he expects to start broadly by listening to others, but he said he sees opportunities to develop grant programs that...

Maine's solution to beach barriers? Buying land for public use Chris Burrell | GBH News | November 16, 2022 https://www.wgbh.org/news/local/2022-11-16/maines-solution-to-beach-barriers-buying-land-for-public-use Ciona Ulbrich stood on a scenic beach in the small, coastal town of Brooksville, Maine, feeling grateful to be able to lawfully enjoy the warm sun and ocean breeze. The nonprofit Ulbrich works for, the Maine Coast Heritage Trust, purchased Bakeman Beach a few years agoand gave it to the town — with the stipulation that it remain open to all members of the public. “Someone could have bought this off, put up a fence and closed it off, which is upsetting, but it's very real,” she said. “This coastal land is getting ever more valuable.” BothMaine and Massachusetts live under similar Colonial-era laws allowing private ownership of beachfront property to extend all the way down to the low-tide line, severely limiting public access to the intertidal area of the coastline. But while Massachusetts has not acquired any new coastal beaches since 1990, state agencies and...

How to Cool Down a City Pablo Robles, Josh Holder and Jeremy White | The New York Times | September 18, 2023 https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/09/18/world/asia/singapore-heat.html Singapore’s prime minister has described climate change as “life and death.” He has reason to worry: Stifling temperatures and humidity already last all year, and the city-state has warmed at twice the global average over the past six decades. Heat like this isn’t just uncomfortable. It can cause chronic illness and death, including heat exhaustion, kidney damage and even heart attacks. With two-thirds of the global population expected to live in urban areas by 2050, urban heat is an enormous global health challenge. Rapid urbanization has made Singapore hotter. A big part of the problem is how almost every global city is built. Cities cut down trees and remove plants that provide shade and naturally cool the air. They cover large areas with concrete and asphalt, which absorb heat during the day and release it at night. They densely pack skyscrapers into urban canyons that limit...

State Parks Agency May Revisit Misinformed Decision to Reduce Park Access In Cambridge StreetsBlog Mass | August 21, 2023 https://mass.streetsblog.org/2023/08/21/state-parks-agency-may-revisit-misinformed-decision-to-reduce-park-access-in-cambridge Officials from the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), the state's parks agency that also manages some of the region's most dangerous and polluted roadways, are re-opening discussions with Cambridge officials and state legislators regarding the city's desire to re-open Riverbend Park on Saturdays. “DCR is committed to ensuring that the community has access to recreational opportunities," wrote DCR spokesperson Chloe Gotsis in an email to StreetsblogMASS. "Commissioner Arrigo plans to meet with the City Council, city manager, and Cambridge delegation and will determine a plan for meaningful community engagement.” State Rep. Mike Connolly, who represents part of Cambridge in the State House and has been an outspoken supporter of the park events, also confirmed that "conversations are ongoing" with DCR and its parent agency, the Executive Office for Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA). "I continue to advocate for a solution that reopens Riverbend Park on Saturdays...

Don’t poo-poo these states’ pleas to keep the parks pristine Erika Bolstad | Stateline | August 15, 2023 https://stateline.org/2023/08/15/dont-poo-poo-these-states-pleas-to-keep-the-parks-pristine Earlier this summer, Adam Ducharme made an unpleasant discovery while helping volunteers install signs telling visitors where to camp, park or launch boats near Leadville, a mountain town surrounded by 14,000-foot peaks in central Colorado. “We were digging holes, putting in signs, and then backfilling the holes with rocks and sort of compounding it with dirt,” Ducharme said. “And every third rock that I picked up to put into the hole had human waste on it.” Ducharme, the region’s first tourism director, was hired last year to not only market the area, but also to help manage the effects of throngs of visitors who have descended on the scenic state after outdoor recreation boomed during the pandemic. To address sustainability concerns, Colorado is the first state to fold what tourism officials call a “destination stewardship” department into its state-level tourism office, said Hayes Norris, the communications manager...

Central Rail Trail would put city at crossroads Guest Column, Craig Della Penna | Daily Hampshire Gazette | August 16, 2023 https://www.gazettenet.com/Guest-columnist-Della-Penna-51963022 A couple of years ago, I wrote an op-ed piece about the prospective completion of the Mass Central Rail Trail (MCRT) and its potential impact on downtown Northampton. I was surprised to note that in recent discussions about the remake of our beautiful hometown, no real mention was made of this this big, amazing opportunity. Last August, the Norwottuck Network, the support organization for our eponymous rail trail, contracted with Kittelson & Associates of Boston, partnering with Cambridge Econometrics of Northampton, to produce an economic impact report about the completion of the Mass Central Rail Trail, of which our Norwottuck Rail Trail is the western terminus. The completed trail will stretch 104 miles from Union Station in Northampton to North Station in Boston. And intersect with 18 others along the way. Compelling evidence of the economic value of multi-use trails led New York Gov. Andrew...

The 27-mile community-made trail brings urban hiking to Boston Alysa Guffey | The Boston Globe | July 24, 2023 https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/24/metro/boston-walking-city-trail/ Like many fresh ideas in recent years, the inspiration for an official urban hiking trail in Boston came during the COVID-19 pandemic, said Miles Howard, who would go on increasingly longer walks to feel the “escape of a hike” without leaving Greater Boston. “We really had to make the most of what we had here in our backyard,” Howard, a freelance journalist who has written forThe Boston Globe, said of his treks in 2020. “These adventures became kind of a pastime during the first year of the pandemic.” Then, Howard took a hike on the Crosstown Trail, which connects opposite areas of San Francisco through hidden trails, public parks, and shopping corridors. Upon returning to Boston, Howard set out to create a similar path that would use existing parks, streets, and landmarks in the city. The result was the Walking City Trail, an unofficial trail mapped by Howard through...

A vision coming true: Study finds 104-mile rail trail connecting Northampton-Boston would generate millions, increase health Maddie Fabian | Daily Hampshire Gazette | July 9, 2023 https://www.articles.gazettenet.com/Study-highlights-potential-benefits-of-completed-MRTC-trail-system-51541452 By the end of this decade, if not sooner, bicyclists will be able to hop on the rail trail at the J. Elwell Conservation Area in Northampton, cross the Connecticut River, and travel across the state 104 miles on the same path all the way to Boston. As they traverse the Massachusetts Central Rail Trail (MCRT), users might stop at a local restaurant for a meal, shop for souvenirs from small businesses, and stay the night at a bed and breakfast or campground. “In a perfect word, my high altitude, high in the blue sky estimate is that it could be done in five years,” said Craig Della Penna, a longtime rail trail proponent and president of the Norwottuck Network, a nonprofit that supports the construction and operation of the MCRT. Once the entire stretch is complete — to...