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Peter Kujawinski | The New York Times | June 5, 2019 https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/05/travel/state-parks-eastern-united-states.html An island of glacier-tumbled rock, covered in trees, sits in the cold waters of Lake Michigan. On the horizon, it looks like the gathering of night. This is Wisconsin’s Rock Island State Park, where my love of nature began. Thirty years ago I spent part of a summer there with a troop of the Polish Boy Scouts, which is a story in its own right. We slept on rusty cots, played dubious games with pocketknives, tramped around the island and jumped into its hidden coves. Our clothes started to grow fungus and we may have blown up cans of creamed corn in bonfires. It was glorious. Rock Island is one of 8,565 state parks that are scattered across all 50 states. Some, like Niagara Falls, have international stature, but most are like Rock Island, locally popular but otherwise unknown. Some are no larger than city parks; others are as grand as national parks. Last year...

Kristi Palma | Boston.com | April 25, 2019 https://www.boston.com/travel/travel/2019/04/25/camping-at-massachusetts-state-parks If sleeping under trees and roasting marshmallows over a campfire describes your perfect weekend getaway, then you don’t have to waste precious hours commuting to another state. Massachusetts has 31 state parks where you can camp. Here’s a list of the 31 state parks where you can pitch a tent. At some, you can park your RV, or even rent a cabin or a yurt. Beartown State Forest, MontereyBoston Harbor Islands, BostonCamp Nihan Education Center, SaugusClarksburg State Park, ClarksburgDaughters of the American Revolution (DAR) State Forest, GoshenErving State Forest, ErvingFederated Women’s Club State Forest, PetershamGranville State Forest, GranvilleHarold Parker State Forest, North AndoverHorseneck Beach State Reservation, WestportLake Dennison Recreation Area, BaldwinvilleMassasoit State Park, East TauntonMohawk Trail State Forest, CharlemontMount Greylock State Reservation, LanesboroughMount Washington State Forest, Mount WashingtonMyles Standish State Forest, CarverNickerson State Park, BrewsterOctober Mountain State Forest, LeeOtter River State Forest, BaldwinvillePearl Hill State Park, West TownsendPittsfield State Forest, PittsfieldSalisbury Beach State Reservation, SalisburySavoy Mountain...

Telegram & Gazette | Matthew Beaton, Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs (ret.) | May 4, 2019 https://www.telegram.com/news/20190504/as-i-see-it-thank-you-central-massachusetts---and-beyond I am blessed to have had the opportunity to grow up exploring central Massachusetts and its many beautiful natural resources. These experiences and an elementary school science fair project on “The Environment” at St. Mary School in Shrewsbury instilled in me an insatiable passion for the outdoors and subsequently, a life dedicated to studying and preserving the many wonderful resources bestowed upon us as residents of Massachusetts. It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve as the Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs in the Baker-Polito Administration. Their strong and empathetic leadership along with the dedication of thousands of public servants and collaboration with the legislature provided us the opportunity to accomplish many great successes over the past four and half years. New England faces some of the most complex energy challenges in the nation and we need to balance lowering emissions, reliability and...

Cheryl Cuddahy | The Lowell Sun | April 11, 2019 http://www.lowellsun.com/contests/ci_32566740 We may all be guilty from time to time of getting so caught up in our daily lives that we forget there is a gorgeous planet that surrounds us that sometimes can only be seen by taking the back roads. One beautiful piece of this Earth is the Wachusett Reservoir Watershed, a 117-square-mile paradise touching the communities of Boylston, Clinton, Holden, Hubbardston, Leominster, Paxton, Princeton, Rutland, Sterling, West Boylston, Westminster and Worcester. The Wachusett Reservoir, along with the Quabbin Reservoir and Ware River, are the unfiltered source of high-quality water for the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority water-supply system. The Massachusetts Department of Conservation & Recreation's Division of Water Supply Protection manages and protects the watersheds and the drinking-water supply. They offer educational programs to inform the public of this important mission and the importance of clean water. "The Wachusett Reservoir was constructed as a water supply to Boston and its suburbs by damming the...

PICK A PARK | GIVE A DAY | MAKE A DIFFERENCE https://www.mass.gov/service-details/park-serve-day-2019-saturday-april-27 The Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) invites you to attend DCR’s Annual Park Serve Day, Saturday April 27, 2019 at parks across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. With the help of volunteers, DCR will spruce up park facilities, clean coastlines, clean and maintain trails, plant flowers, and more! These valuable resources belong to all of us, and we can all take pride in them. To read the full DCR post, please click here. To find parks & register for Park Serve Day 2019, please click here....

Jonathan Lambert | NPR | February 25, 2019 https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/02/25/697788559/greener-childhood-associated-with-happier-adulthood The experience of natural spaces, brimming with greenish light, the smells of soil and the quiet fluttering of leaves in the breeze can calm our frenetic modern lives. It's as though our very cells can exhale when surrounded by nature, relaxing our bodies and minds. Some people seek to maximize the purported therapeutic effects of contact with the unbuilt environment by embarking on sessions of forest bathing, slowing down and becoming mindfully immersed in nature. But in a rapidly urbanizing world, green spaces are shrinking as our cities grow out and up. Scientists are working to understand how green spaces, or lack of them, can affect our mental health. A study published Monday in the journal PNAS details what the scientists say is the largest investigation of the association between green spaces and mental health. Researchers from Aarhus University in Denmark found that growing up near vegetation is associated with an up to 55 percent lower risk of mental health disorders in...

Christopher Ingraham | The Washington Post | January 11, 2019 https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/01/11/people-are-happier-states-that-spend-more-money-public-places-like-parks-libraries A new study published in the journal Social Science Research finds that Americans report greater levels of happiness in states that spend more money on public goods such as parks, libraries, infrastructure and public safety. In economics, public goods are defined as goods that are available to everybody and to which no one is excluded from using. “They’re typically not profitable to produce in the private market, so if the government doesn’t provide them, they will either be underprovided or not at all,” study author Patrick Flavin of Baylor University said in a statement. Because they’re available to all, spending on public goods tends to be less politically contentious than other spending categories, such as antipoverty programs or unemployment benefits. Flavin suspected spending on these types of goods would be linked to higher levels of happiness in a given state. By devoting resources to amenities that otherwise would probably not exist, “government can help to...

George L. "Gige" Darey 6/5/1928 - 12/21/2018 Conservation Advocate https://www.rochefuneralhome.com/m/obituaries/George-Darey/#!/Obituary George L. Darey, 90, passed away peacefully from congestive heart failure at home in his native Lenox on Friday afternoon December 21, 2018. Born to the late John Darey and Francine Darey, Gige graduated, after some pranks, from Lenox Memorial High School, received a B.A. in Political Science from the State University of New York at Plattsburgh and two Masters degrees from the University of Massachusetts, in Biology and School Administration. Following graduation, he served in the Korean War. Thanks to a claimed major in Geology at induction, Gige met and began to work for a speed reading instructor in the Army, which led to a future in teaching. Gige loved teaching high school: History and Social Studies at Mahar, in Orange, MA, Speed Reading and Study Skills at Wahconah in Dalton, MA. Being a lifelong outdoorsman, he started highly successful Fish and Game Clubs at each school. He began a Lenox summer...