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Guest blog by NepRWA Board Member and Sharon Resident, Paul Lauenstein | Neponset River Watershed Association | November 5, 2019 https://www.neponset.org/happenings/neprwa-blog/rattlesnake-hill-in-sharon-has-been-spared-from-development/ On November 5, 2019,  Sharon Town Meeting voted to use Community Preservation Act funds and a grant from the state to purchase and preserve most of this 337-acre parcel of natural open space, which has been classified as Priority Habitat by the Massachusetts Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program (NHESP). Rattlesnake Hill’s granite dome rises to an elevation of 431 feet, affording views of Boston and Cape Cod. Parallel scrape marks in the bare granite at the summit are evidence that glaciers up to a mile thick advanced and retreated over Massachusetts during the last ice age. Rattlesnake Hill adjoins Borderland State Park. Together, they comprise an area of almost 2,200 acres of contiguous natural open space. Vernal pools at Rattlesnake hill support a diverse ecosystem including rare Blanding’s turtles that migrate seasonally from the ponds at Borderland State Park to feed on amphibian eggs...

Clayton Harper | Arborway Matters | November 12, 2019 https://arborwaymatters.blogspot.com/2019/10/lemuel-shattuck-hospital-opportunity-to.html Lemuel Shattuck Hospital in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, which is slated for demolition soon, sits on land that was “Heathfield” - a scenic setting near the westernmost entrance to Frederick Law Olmsted’s masterpiece, Franklin Park, the crown jewel of the Emerald Necklace parks in Boston. Heathfield was once a grassy open field with full public access and walking paths surrounded by forest and rocky slopes, including “Rock Milton”, a large puddingstone cliff that rises above Scarboro Pond. Now it is covered with asphalt parking lot and sits behind a barbed-wire fence. The City of Boston agreed to convey more than 13 acres of Franklin Park to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1949 specifically for healthcare purposes, and in the seventy years since, the site has been used for the care of respiratory ailments, cancer patients, HIV care, psychiatric services, addiction treatment as well as Department of Corrections inmates with health issues....

Mia Cathell | The Daily Free Press | September 10, 2019 https://dailyfreepress.com/blog/2019/09/10/restoring-americas-wildlife-act-to-fund-massachusetts-conservation/ The Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife announced its support for a bill in Congress that would provide $12 million every year to aid the state’s efforts to protect over 500 species, according to a Sept. 3 MassWildlife press release. The “Recovering America’s Wildlife Act” was first introduced to Congress in December 2017 by Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE) and Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI), but was reintroduced this July after it stalled last year, according to the bill’s history on Congress’s website. Beginning in fiscal year 2020, the bill would amend the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act, which diverts funds from the general excise tax for wildlife conservation, to allocate an additional $1.3 billion for the Wildlife Restoration Fund, according to the bill. The bill also says it would allow states to determine how the funds will be used to protect fish and wildlife of the “greatest conservation need,” as well as for other conservation purposes. MassWildlife’s...

Chris Lisinski | State House News Service | South Coast Today | September 6, 2019 https://www.southcoasttoday.com/news/20190905/senate-votes-to-transfer-control-of-ernestina-to-mass-maritime BOSTON — Control of the historic Schooner Ernestina-Morrissey would move from the state Department of Conservation and Recreation to the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, which will maintain the vessel and use it for training, under a bill the Senate passed Thursday. The transfer comes as part of an effort to develop a long-term plan for preservation of the 125-year-old schooner, designated as the official vessel of Massachusetts. Restoration has been underway since 2015 thanks to $3.8 million in combined funding from the state, the Schooner Ernestina-Morrissey Association and philanthropists Robert Hildreth and H.F. “Gerry” Lenfest, according to Sen. Mark Montigny, who was the bill’s lead author. Under the legislation advanced Thursday (S 2328), the Massachusetts Maritime Academy will take over management of the vessel, though DCR will provide funding to help complete existing renovation contracts in fiscal year 2020. The academy must use it as a sail training ship for...

Alexander Nazaryan | Yahoo News | October 11, 2019 https://news.yahoo.com/campgrounds-in-national-parks-set-to-be-privatized-in-new-trump-plan-090019066.html WASHINGTON — A Trump administration advisory panel is recommending an ambitious plan to give private businesses greater access to national parks, according to a memorandum written by an advisory council for the Department of the Interior. Some price increases could also in the works for park visitors under the plan. Drafters of the plan say it amounts to little more than a much-needed modernization of aging infrastructure, and that the goal is to make national parks accessible to a younger, more diverse audience. Critics, on the other hand, see corporate influence at work. There are 419 national parks in the United States, from the National Mall in Washington, D.C., to the Gates of the Arctic in Alaska. All are overseen by the National Park Service, which is part of the Interior Department. That department is headed by David Bernhardt, a former Republican operative and corporate lobbyist who has made no secret of his desire to increase the...

Madeline Bilis | Travel and Leisure | August 20, 2019 https://www.travelandleisure.com/trip-ideas/eastern-massachusetts-hikes The gentle hills of Greater Boston aren’t exactly known for their heart-pumping hiking trails. The same goes for the sloping dunes of Cape Cod — you’d be hard-pressed to find gaggles of L.L. Bean-clad hikers trekking out to sandbars in Eastern Massachusetts the way some groups scale the mountains of Western Mass. And that’s exactly why it’s so wondrous to go hiking there. I know this because I spent the better part of last year hiking around Eastern Massachusetts to write an aptly named guidebook, "50 Hikes in Eastern Massachusetts." It details some of the most well-known trails beyond Boston, as well as the area’s more secret, under-the-radar walks. Indeed, one of the region’s biggest strengths as a hiking destination is a refreshing lack of other humans. Maybe uncrowded trails are a given, but until you go for a leisurely stroll among centuries-old trees — without seeing another person for hours — you might...

David Dore | Leominster Champion | August 13, 2019 https://www.leominsterchamp.com/news/20190813/leominster-city-council-oks-funds-for-twin-cities-rail-trail-easements The Twin Cities Rail Trail has moved another step forward, following a unanimous vote by the Leominster City Council on Monday night. Councilors approved spending $83,100 from the city’s Stabilization Account to reimburse property owners for use of their land — either temporarily during construction or permanently for needs such as utilities and sidewalks — for the first phase of the project. The 24 temporary and seven permanent easements themselves will be discussed and voted on by councilors Monday, Aug. 26. Public hearings are scheduled for 6:05 and 6:10 that night in the City Council chambers at Leominster City Hall. The rail trail would connect Mechanic Street in downtown Leominster and the Intermodal Transportation Center on Water Street in downtown Fitchburg. It would run through areas such as the South Fitchburg Playground and Fitchburg Municipal Airport in Fitchburg, and the Doyle Conservation Area, HealthAlliance-Leominster Hospital, Watertower Plaza, Doyle Field, Pine Grove Cemetery and Carter Park...

MassBike | Galen Mook, Executive Director | July 29, 2019 https://www.massbike.org/massbikeletter_dcrebikes Last week, MassBike put out a call for your help, to join in the conversation on e-bikes and submit your comments to the Dept. of Conservation and Recreation in regards to their proposed regulations that would pertain to pedal-assist bicycles. We appreciate the desire for the DCR to allow Class-1 Pedal-Assist Electric Bicycles on improved trails over 8' wide (like rail trails). However, we disagree with the proposal to prohibit the use of pedal-assist bikes on "improved DCR trails that are less than 8 feet in width, dirt roads that are not open to vehicular traffic, and any natural surface trails, regardless of width or other conditions," and compiled our feedback for the DCR to review. You can learn more about these proposal amendments to DCR policies here (CMR 302 11.00) and here (CMR 302 12.00) and more about e-bikes on our website here. We received several hundred responses in support of our call to action and we greatly appreciate...

Knvul Sheikh | The New York Times | June 13, 2019 https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/13/health/nature-outdoors-health.html It’s a medical fact: Spending time outdoors, especially in green spaces, is good for you. A wealth of research indicates that escaping to a neighborhood park, hiking through the woods, or spending a weekend by the lake can lower a person’s stress levels, decrease blood pressure and reduce the risk asthma, allergies, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, while boosting mental health and increasing life expectancy. Doctors around the world have begun prescribing time in nature as a way of improving their patients’ health. One question has remained: How long, or how frequently, should you experience the great outdoors in order to reap its great benefits? Is there a recommended dose? Just how much nature is enough? According to a paper published Thursday in the journal Scientific Reports, the answer is about 120 minutes each week. The study examined data from nearly 20,000 people in England who took part in the Monitor of Engagement with the...

Amanda Stoll | NorthEndWaterfront.com | July 16, 2019 https://northendwaterfront.com/2019/07/the-beaches-of-boston-harbor/ Watch Boston Harbor Now’s most recent Waterfront Wednesdays episode with Director of Planning Alice Brown and Vice President of Partnerships and Operations Jack Murray to learn more about Boston Harbor’s beaches. To see the full video, click here. And to find your closest state park beach, check out Mass. DCR's accessible beaches web page here....