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Olmsted inspiration: Use parks to address climate change Opinion, Kathy Abbott | Commonwealth Magazine | March 30, 2022 https://commonwealthmagazine.org/opinion/olmsted-inspiration-use-parks-to-address-climate-change/ It's all too easy to imagine: a Boston neighborhood keeps flooding in extreme weather. Rising waters and dirty storm runoff threaten public health and homes. A community that wants to share in the continuing growth of a thriving city instead faces what seems to be a dire choice: Withdraw from the waterfront, or die. What may sound like a headline from tomorrow’s or even today’s news was, in fact, the very crisis facing the Back Bay and Fenway back in the late 1800s, two of the many neighborhoods in Boston developed by filling in a former tidal marsh. To mitigate and control their worsening flooding problems and protect Boston’s rapid overall growth, the legendary landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted had the bold idea of building a park to promote resilience as well as public health and recreation. Deploying what today’s planners call “green infrastructure,” Olmsted—who...

Commentary: Wu must take a strong lead on growing the city’s tree canopy Bill Walczak, | Dorchester Reporter | March 23, 2022 https://www.dotnews.com/2022/commentary-wu-must-take-strong-lead-growing-city-s-tree-canopy Boston mayors have pledged to increase the city’s tree canopy for decades, and while the latest effort to do so seems to be in earnest, we have heard that refrain before. And yet, the extent of the canopy declined from 29 to 27 percent over the last 12 years. Bottom line: Our city departments don’t make trees a priority. Boston needs to add trees everywhere, but especially in densely populated neighborhoods. As our planet continues to heat up, trees protect dense urban communities from heat domes, which are high-pressure weather systems where hot air is trapped over a single geographic area. Heat domes can keep temperatures over 100 degrees for days or weeks, and they can be very dangerous for elders and those with medical conditions that weaken the body. Boston’s chief of Environment, Energy and Open Spaces, Dorchester’s Mariama White Hammond,...

Park priority projects Sharl Heller, Massachusetts Forest & Park Friends Network | Wicked Local | March 19, 2022 https://www.wickedlocal.com/story/old-colony-memorial/2022/03/19/guest-column-park-priority-projects/9410744002/ Understanding that DCR properties are facing a billion-dollar maintenance backlog, the Massachusetts Forest and Park Friends Network - an organization comprised mainly of Friends groups who support state parks and recreation sites - asked the public for their list of park priority projects. Not wanting to focus on the negative though, the Friend’s survey also included a request to recall, in specific terms, any especially enjoyable moments they had enjoyed in a Massachusetts State Park. The response was amazing. -- “I enjoy many parks around central and eastern MA with my dogs, husband, siblings, nieces and nephews,” one response began. “The outdoors are crucial to our well-being. We frequent the Blue Hills, the Fells, Callahan State Park, Mt Pisgah in Berlin, Hale, Noanet, the Midstate Trail, and Mt Wachusett among others.” It was clear that many residents use the parks in multiple ways, like hiking, biking, riding, swimming,...

Protecting the state’s protected lands Opinion | Commonwealth Magazine | March 18, 2022 https://commonwealthmagazine.org/opinion/protecting-the-states-protected-lands/ Jane Winn is executive director of the Berkshire Environmental Action Team, or BEA;, Judy Lehrer-Jacobs is executive director of the Friends of the Blue Hills; and Paul Atwood is treasurer of the Upper Charles Conservation Land Trust. We often think of floods, hurricanes, snowstorms and the like as threats to our normal way of life, but the Covid pandemic has shown us a unique threat that affects everyone in a very different way — isolation and inability to gather together. What brought many of us through the last few years was the availability of nearby open spaces for outdoor passive recreation. As much as we need to plan for 100-year floods, we also need to plan for 100-year pandemics. Enter the Public Lands Preservation Act. Massachusetts has a wonderful collection of State Parks with a huge variety of sites and activities along with Mass Audubon, The Trustees, The Trust for Public...

Dighton’s Trails Committee Invites Community Members to Attend Sweets Knoll State Park Improvement Plan Forum Taylor O'Neil | Client News, City/Town News | March 16, 2022 https://jgpr.net/2022/03/16/dightons-trails-committee-invites-community-members-to-attend-sweets-knoll-state-park-improvement-plan-forum/ Chairman Jeffrey Carvalho and the Dighton Trails Committee would like to invite community members to attend the upcoming Taunton River Trail at Sweets Knoll State Park Improvements Project Public Listening Session. The Taunton River Trail at Sweets Knoll State Park Improvements Project Public Listening Session will be hosted by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) virtually on Tuesday, March 29, from 6-7:30 p.m. To register for the event, click here. “We encourage all those in our community to virtually attend this upcoming public listening session to learn more about the proposed plans for the Sweets Knoll State Park Improvements Project,” said Carvalho. “Not only will this forum give community members the opportunity to hear about the project from the team spearheading the endeavor, but it will also allow them the time to ask questions and share any...

Senators Markey, Warren and Reps. Trahan, Moulton Applaud Essex National Heritage Area Reauthorization in Federal Budget Spending Package Press Release, Office of Senator Ed Markey | March 15, 2022 https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senators-markey-warren-and-reps-trahan-moulton-applaud-essex-national-heritage-area-reauthorization-in-federal-budget-spending-package Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Representatives Seth Moulton (MA-06) and Lori Trahan (MA-03) today applauded the reauthorization of the Essex National Heritage Area in the 2022 Fiscal Year package. The recently passed spending bill reauthorized the heritage area until 2023—extending the Essex National Heritage Area’s ability to receive federal money. The provision authorizing the Secretary of the Interior to provide financial assistance to the Essex National Heritage Area expired on September 30, 2021. “The Essex National Heritage Area strengthens our local economies and preserves the North Shore’s rich history, culture, and natural resources. I am glad that the 2022 Fiscal Year package heeded our call to extend the Essex National Heritage Area’s authorization, enabling it to receive the federal funds it needs to continue to support partnerships between Massachusetts...

Urban forests may store more carbon than we thought, study finds Barbara Moran | WBUR | February 16, 2022 https://www.wbur.org/news/2022/02/16/forest-fragments-northeast-us-climate-change-soil-respiration Urban forests are little oases of nature, but they don't get a lot of respect. The trees near the road get sprayed with salt and choked with soot; the boulders get tagged with graffiti, the trails through the woods are often littered with candy wrappers, soda bottles and plastic sacks of dog poo. But despite the abuse, these small patches of forest may play an outsized role in combatting climate change, at least here in the Northeast. Two studies from Boston University find that trees around the edges of urban forests grow faster, and the soil gives off less carbon dioxide, than scientists expected. That means these scruffy edges are surprisingly good at pulling carbon dioxide out of the sky, and storing it underground. The research suggests that fragmented urban forests, often dismissed as degraded remnants of their former selves, maybe be doing more for...

Mass Audubon president prods Legislature for more parks funding Jon Chesto | The Boston Globe | March 14, 2022 https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/03/14/business/mass-audubon-president-prods-legislature-more-parks-funding/ When David O’Neill took over as president of Mass Audubon nearly two years ago, the COVID-19 pandemic had just hit the state. But the fight for land preservation dollars was well underway.In the ensuing two years, those two issues became intertwined. Environmental advocates such as O’Neill argued that the pandemic underscores the need to protect the state’s open spaces, which proved their immense worth when indoor recreation opportunities were essentially shuttered. The job required O’Neill to quickly get up to speed on the Byzantine world of Massachusetts state government. His career had been in the Washington, D.C., area, most recently as chief conservation officer at the National Audubon Society. (With its $37 million annual budget and 125-year history, Mass Audubon is the largest and oldest independent affiliate of the national group. O’Neill said the state Legislature only set aside about $15 million for land preservation...

ARPA money needed for nature, open space David O'Neill & Deb Markowitz | Commonwealth Magazine | March 8, 2022 David O’Neill is the president of Mass Audubon and previously served as the chief conservation officer and senior advisor to the CEO at National Audubon Society. Deb Markowitz is Massachusetts director for The Nature Conservancy. She previously served as Vermont’s Secretary of State. https://commonwealthmagazine.org/opinion/arpa-money-needed-for-nature-open-space/ Last fall, the Massachusetts Legislature invested $4 billion of state and federal funds in a COVID recovery. The lawmakers’ priorities – support for essential workers, investments in housing and healthcare systems, and initiatives in education and workforce development – are laudable and at the time were truly necessary and addressing them was time-sensitive. And yet, the pandemic has laid bare the need for nature and open spaces in the most-impacted communities. Unfortunately, substantial investment in parks and open space as part of the American Rescue Plan Act COVID relief was pushed to another day. Of course, we shouldn’t be surprised: Massachusetts has underfunded...

Governor Hogan, Lt. Governor Rutherford Tout $75 Million Investment in Maryland State Parks Press Release | The Office of Governor Larry Hogan | February 22, 2022 https://governor.maryland.gov/2022/02/22/video-release-governor-hogan-lt-governor-rutherford-tout-75-million-investment-in-maryland-state-parks-new-state-parks-in-western-maryland-eastern-shore-to-open-this-summer/ ANNAPOLIS, MD—Governor Larry Hogan today visited Greenbrier State Park in Boonsboro to tout the investment of $75 million in the governor’s Fiscal Year 2023 budget for the Maryland Park Service, which represents a 20-year high. The governor also announced the opening of new state parks in Western Maryland and on the Eastern Shore this summer. The governor was joined for today’s announcement by Lt. Governor Boyd K. Rutherford, who has now visited 60 of Maryland’s 75 state parks as part of his State Park Bucket List, and Secretary Jeannie Haddaway-Riccio of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. “Maryland truly is open for business, and so are our state parks,” said Governor Hogan. “I want to sincerely thank the incredible Maryland Park Service staff, the countless volunteers, and all of the camp hosts who work tirelessly every single day to...

DCR Announces February 2022 School Vacation Programming Press Release | Department of Conservation & Recreation | February 18, 2022 https://www.mass.gov/news/dcr-announces-february-2022-school-vacation-programming The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) announced today that it will offer free and low-cost family-friendly programs during the upcoming February school vacation week. Programming begins on Saturday, February 19, 2022 and is available throughout the state. Visitors will be able to participate in a variety of programming, including scavenger hunts, wildlife tracking, crafting activities, trail hikes, and more. A full list of activities and programming can be found on DCR’s website. “The Department of Conservation and Recreation is pleased to announce our expanded park program offerings across the state during the upcoming February school vacation week,” said Acting DCR Commissioner Stephanie Cooper. “We encourage children and families to get outside, enjoy the fresh air, and take advantage of these free programs while embarking on their own outdoor adventures.” During the school vacation week, public skating hours have been extended daily from 10:00AM to 2:50PM....

New Trails We Can Look Forward to in Eastern Mass. in 2022 Christian MilNeil | Streetsblog MASS | February 7, 2022 https://mass.streetsblog.org/2022/02/07/new-trails-we-can-look-forward-to-in-eastern-mass-in-2022/ From the Berkshires to Boston, construction crews are putting the finishing touches on a dozen new off-street biking and walking paths that are expected to open to traffic in 2022. There are so many projects in the works that we’re splitting up this rundown into two articles: we’ll be highlighting new trails coming to Central and Western Massachusetts in a separate article, linked below: https://mass.streetsblog.org/2022/02/08/new-trails-we-can-look-forward-to-in-central-and-western-massachusetts-this-year/ Here’s a rundown of the new trails we can look forward to biking, wheeling, or walking along later this year: Community Path extension, Somerville and Cambridge One of the most eagerly-awaited trail projects to open in 2022 will open up an off-street path connection that will traverse the City of Somerville and connect the Minuteman Bikeway to the Charles River. Somerville’s Community Path Extension (pictured below) will still be used as a construction staging area for the Green Line Extension project...