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The state needs a better way to track what it owns The Editorial Board | The Boston Globe | December 5, 2021 https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/12/05/opinion/state-needs-better-way-track-what-it-owns/ The tragedy involving the dilapidated staircase near the MBTA JFK/UMass Station, where a Boston University professor fell to his death, is an opportunity for state leaders to rethink how they track state-owned properties and come up with a better system for tracking maintenance and repairs. As the Globe’s Elizabeth Koh recently reported, several government agencies, including the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, flagged safety issues on the staircase that led from Columbia Road toward JFK/UMass Station. The staircase was shut down and blocked off, but not repaired or removed, until after professor David Jones died. At that point, it also became clear there was confusion over which state agency was responsible for repairing those stairs. Initially, a T official suggested the structure belonged to the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation. That was true up until 2009, when the Legislature reorganized the state’s...

Panel aims to ensure Massachusetts public beaches are accessible to all Chris Van Buskirk | State House News Service, Mass Live | November 30, 2021 https://www.masslive.com/news/2021/11/panel-aims-to-ensure-massachusetts-public-beaches-are-accessible-to-all.html Arguing that all people should have access to public beaches regardless of physical ability, advocates and public officials on Tuesday called for improvements and upgrades so people with disabilities can easily enjoy seaside offerings in Massachusetts. The Metropolitan Beaches Commission and Save the Harbor/Save the Bay held the second of three hearings Tuesday focused on access to public spaces for people with disabilities as officials work toward a report in the spring. Save the Harbor/Save the Bay Executive Director Chris Mancini said the report will provide a roadmap for improvements in areas of access, equity, and inclusion. “We are focusing on these specific issues of access in an effort to continue what has alway been our mission which is to connect everybody to the beaches and the harbor and the clean water that we have in Boston,” Mancini told...

World Atlas: Charles River Diptarka Ghosh | World Atlas | December 6, 2021 https://www.worldatlas.com/rivers/charles-river.html Also referred to as River Charles, the Charles River is a 129 km long river that flows in the eastern portion of the US State of Massachusetts and is the longest river that flows entirely within the state. The river begins at Echo Lake in the town of Hopkinton and then follows a highly meandering route flowing through 23 towns and cities in the eastern portion of the state, finally draining into the Boston Harbor. The Charles River drains an area of 798 sq. km. Geography of Charles River The Charles River originates at Teresa Road, located just to the north of Echo Lake in the town of Hopkinton in the Middlesex County of the US State of Massachusetts. The river follows a highly winding course that doubles back on itself numerous times and is fed by more than 80 streams and several other principal aquifers. This 129km long river drains...

Now-closed parks were built with taxpayer money Paul Leighton | The Salem News | December 6, 2021 https://www.salemnews.com/news/now-closed-parks-were-built-with-taxpayer-money/article_3dc6788a-52c2-11ec-bcca-83be96f1feb6.html BEVERLY — Two pieces of land in the Gloucester Crossing neighborhood that are now locked up and for sale were once neighborhood parks built with taxpayer money. The parcels, at 14 and 34 Simon St., were developed into recreation areas in 1991 with $40,500 in grant funds secured through the city’s Community Development Office, according to a story in the Beverly Times from May 13, 1991. The lots are owned by the Beverly Housing Authority and are now being advertised for sale. The move has upset many residents, who say the parks serve as valuable open space and play areas for children in a crowded lower-income neighborhood. It is unclear if the use of public money means the two parcels must remain as public parks. Tom Bussone, the chairman of the Beverly Housing Authority board of commissioners, said he was unaware that grant money had been used to...

Letter to the Editor, Richard Stafursky | The Recorder | December 3, 2021 https://www.recorder.com/my-turn-starfursky-NotOneMoreAcre-43807986 Massachusetts must shut all State Forests for tree cutting now. A few years ago I spent an entire year in Massachusetts State Forests with state foresters who were planning management of those forests. In each case the plan was to inventory and mark trees to be cut by contractors. At the end of that year I told the foresters that I had not seen any need to cut any of the trees. Contrarily, in each location they had a plan to convert the state forests into even-age forests using silviculture practices. Silviculture converts a deep woods forest rating of zero on the NLATS scale to a 6. This is over half way to total natural landscape destruction which is NLATS 10. Silviculture is simply another name for forestry. Even-age is just another forestry word for forest agriculture; management for the continued cutting of trees. Management is the opposite of “Just let...

Sarah Shemkus | Northshore Magazine | December 3, 2021 https://www.nshoremag.com/faces-places/renovations-unveiled-at-halibut-point-state-park-in-rockport/ After three years of preparation, planning, and construction, the $4.6 million renovation of Halibut Point State Park is complete, featuring updates intended to make the park more welcoming, accessible, and environmentally sustainable. The completion was made official in late November at a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by state Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Kathleen Theoharides, acting commissioner of the Department Of Conservation and Recreation Stephanie Cooper, and several local officials. Halibut Point, perched at the northernmost tip of Rockport, is one of Massachusetts’ most popular state parks, offering a combination of stunning natural beauty, fascinating history, and easy access. The centerpiece of the property is the water-filled Babson Quarry, once an active part of the area’s granite industry. The park’s gentle main path circles the quarry, while side trails descend to the rocky waterfront, branch off to scenic outlooks (on a clear day, you can see as far as Maine), and meander through...

As billions hang in limbo, lawmakers take a breather Adrian Walker | The Boston Globe | November 19, 2021 https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/11/19/metro/billions-hang-limbo-lawmakers-take-breather If there’s one thing our state lawmakers have historically been good at, it’s spending large pots of money. And getting their rest. So it’s astonishing that they have been unable to reach an agreement to spend more than $5 billion in funds, a federal gift-in-hand intended to ease the effects of the pandemic. But it’s not astonishing at all that lawmakers adjourned for the year Thursday, leaving the issue hanging in limbo. Both the House and the Senate had passed spending plans for the money, but those bills have to be reconciled into a single document and signed into law. As legislators headed off into the sunset, Governor Charlie Baker made no secret of his frustration with them. He’s absolutely right to believe they’ve shirked their duty. “The Legislature made a commitment to get it done before they went home for the holiday season and I can’t tell...

DCR needs funding to preserve our priceless conservation resources Letter to the Editor | The Lowell Sun | November 23, 2021 https://www.lowellsun.com/2021/11/23/letter-dcr-needs-funding-to-preserve-our-priceless-conservation-resources/ We are writing to address the lack of adequate budget support in recent years for the Department of Conservation & Recreation which has created a crisis condition in one of the commonwealth’s most cherished resources: our state parks, trails, forests and conservation lands. As a volunteer group founded to support DCR, the Friends of the Nashua River Rail Trail is painfully aware of this reality as it impacts citizens who use the trail. From trail surface conditions to lack of routine maintenance, the NRRT serves as the proverbial “canary in the coal mine” to the overall lack of budget support for DCR as it impacts all of that agency’s resources. Understanding this fundamental reality, we were extremely dismayed to see Gov. Charlie Baker’s proposal to spend $100 million in federal ARPA relief money for DCR drastically cut. Much of this funding would...

‘I can’t tell you how frustrated I am.’ Baker criticizes lawmakers for failing to pass pandemic stimulus bill Matt Stout | The Boston Globe | November 18, 2021 https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/11/18/metro/baker-raps-lawmakers-not-passing-pandemic-stimulus-bill-says-massachusetts-is-already-behind-others/ Governor Charlie Baker rebuked state lawmakers a day after they went on recess without a deal on how to spend billions in federal stimulus and state funds, arguing it leaves Massachusetts “stuck in neutral” in its circuitous climb out of the COVID-19pandemic. Baker’s pointed criticisms on Thursday reignited his months-long dispute with Democratic leaders over how quickly the state should be spending the nearly $5 billion it still has in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds. Lawmakers have long rejected the second-term Republican’s calls to move with alacrity in allocating the money, instead holding a half-dozen hearings to take public feedback while arguing that deliberation — not speed — was most important in dividing up a “once-in-a-lifetime” pot of money. But legislative leaders failed to reach a compromise on a nearly $4 billion spending package before formal sessions ended for the...

Opinion | The Herald News | November 13 https://www.heraldnews.com/story/opinion/letters/2021/11/13/opinion-nature-climate-need-bigger-investments-southcoast/8584102002/ As a bill that will allocate federal COVID-19 relief funds is winding through the Massachusetts Legislature, a surge of support is materializing for investments in nature and climate. The House of Representatives committed nearly 10 percent of its recovery strategy to nature during last week’s debate. We support these investments whole-heartedly, but I know we can do better. The scale and urgency of the need, and the decades of under-investment, require bolder action. Investments in nature provide countless benefits, from protecting public health and plants and animals to supporting the economy, for everyone across the South Coast and especially those most affected by the pandemic. Nature-based climate solutions, such as protecting open space (especially forests and salt marshes), can also directly mitigate the worst effects of climate change, with the potential to remove from the atmosphere up to two million tons of heat-trapping carbon dioxide in Massachusetts alone. Visits to state parks and Mass Audubon Sanctuaries have...