A Unique Opportunity to Implement a New Vision for the Council

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A Unique Opportunity to Implement a New Vision for the Council Former DCR Stewardship Council Chair Nate Walton speaks to his experience on the Council and where he sees DCR five years from now Nate Walton and his son at the Esplanade. Photo Credit: Nate Walton. Nate Walton served on the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) Stewardship Council for five years. A graduate of Bates College and Brown University, he works as a consultant to defense technology businesses. Formerly a resident of Boston, Nate now lives with his wife and their two children on the North Shore. Nate became the Council Chairman midway through his five-year term during a tumultuous time for the Council, replacing Whitney Hatch, who the Governor did not reappoint. In fact, there was nearly a complete turnover of Councilors just before his chairmanship began. Soft-spoken but determined, he brought stability to the Council while new members found their footing. With the backdrop of the pandemic, he ushered in a...
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Baker-Polito Administration Announces Over $11 Million for 81 Trail Improvement Projects Across the Commonwealth

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Baker-Polito Administration Announces Over $11 Million for 81 Trail Improvement Projects Across the Commonwealth Press Release | Department of Conservation & Recreation | June 28, 2022 https://www.mass.gov/news/baker-polito-administration-announces-over-11-million-for-81-trail-improvement-projects-across-the-commonwealth The Baker-Polito Administration today announced $11.4 million in funding through the MassTrails Grant Program to support 81 trail improvement projects across the Commonwealth to expand and connect the state’s network of trails. Today’s announcement was made by Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito, Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) Secretary Beth Card, Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) Secretary Jamey Tesler, Department of Conservation and Recreation Commissioner (DCR) Doug Rice, and state and local officials at Wharf Street Park in the Town of Milton. The grants will assist municipalities, non-profit organizations, and other public entities for the design, construction, and maintenance of a variety of public trails throughout the state, including hiking trails, bikeways, and shared-use paths. Additionally, this year, MassTrails has partnered with the Conine Family Foundation’s HubLuv Initiative, which seeks to further improve the Commonwealth’s existing trail network.  “Over the last couple of years, the importance of the Commonwealth’s...
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Transition Announced at the Department of Conservation and Recreation

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Transition Announced at the Department of Conservation and Recreation Press Release | Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, Department of Conservation & Recreation | June 22, 2022 https://www.mass.gov/news/transition-announced-at-the-department-of-conservation-and-recreation BOSTON — Today, Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Beth Card announced the departure of Department of Conservation and Recreation Acting Commissioner Stephanie Cooper and the appointment of Doug Rice, former General Counsel at DCR and currently Director of Procurement for the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) as the incoming Commissioner, effective June 24, 2022. “Acting Commissioner Cooper has been a vital asset steering the Department of Conservation and Recreation, she demonstrated her commitment to the agency’s mission, its staff, and the state parks system every day. I am very grateful for her service, ” said Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Beth Card. “I am excited to welcome Doug to the team, and have confidence that he will be a strong advocate and supporter of our state’s natural, cultural, and recreational resources.” In November 2021, Acting Commissioner...
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This State Park In Massachusetts Is So Little Known, You’ll Practically Have It All To Yourself

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This State Park In Massachusetts Is So Little Known, You’ll Practically Have It All To Yourself Melissa Mahoney | Only In Your State | June 13, 2022 https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/massachusetts/little-known-park-ma/ Want to get away from it all and immerse yourself in nature? How about spending time at a little-known state park in Massachusetts? Pearl Hill State Park is one place you can escape to and, as it’s not as well-known as many other parks around the state, you may just have it all to yourself. Not too far away from the Massachusetts/New Hampshire border and approximately 50 miles from the city of Boston is an underrated state park. If you're looking for a quiet and peaceful place, Pearl Hill State Park provides a great escape into nature. At 1,000 acres, this lovely state park offers plenty of opportunities for outdoor recreation. Visitors can enjoy hiking, biking, camping, fishing, swimming, and more throughout the year. Throughout the park are plenty of woods with tall pine trees, two ponds, a meadow,...
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Letters: With insufficient funds and staff, we’re loving our state parks to death

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Letters: With insufficient funds and staff, we’re loving our state parks to death https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/06/13/opinion/with-insufficient-funds-staff-were-loving-our-state-parks-death/ The Letters to the Editor below are in response to Short-staffed and strapped for cash, state parks struggle to handle surge of warm-weather crowds, The Boston Globe, June 7, 2022. Years of disinvestment call for a greater outlay to support DCR Alexander Thompson’s story about the continuing budget needs at the Department of Conservation and Recreation points to a $10 million increase in state funding on the table to support the agency (“Everyone’s ready for summer, but the parks might not be,” Page A1, June 8). This funding is long overdue, but it is not enough. DCR parks and reservations have played an important role in helping our residents to cope with the public health pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic. They also add value to the magnificent quality of life that Massachusetts has to offer, and they are an economic driver of our economy. It’s amazing that we can go from...
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MCV Signs Letter re: An Act Preserving Open Space, June 8, 2022

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MCV Signs Letter re: An Act Preserving Open Space, June 8, 2022 MCV has signed this letter with several environmental organizations to Senate President Karen Spilka asking for An Act Preserving Open Space in the Commonwealth (H.851, S.2820) - informally called the Public Lands Preservation Act (PLPA) - to be finalized without a cash for land provision. Now we are asking you to contact President Spilka, thank her for passing the PLPA, voice your support for the PLPA, and ask that she agree to a final bill that does not have a cash in lieu of land provision. Please call (617-722-1500) or email (Karen.Spilka@masenate.gov) her as soon as possible so we can get final passage of the bill before the legislative session ends next month. After 20 years, it’s time to get this bill across the finish line. Read the letter below. PLPA-H851-Reconciliation-SenPresLetter_6-8-2022Download...
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Mass. State Parks Facing Worker Shortage, Union Says

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Mass. State Parks Facing Worker Shortage, Union Says Michael Rosenfield | NBC 10 Boston | June 10, 2022 https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/mass-state-parks-facing-worker-shortage-union-says/2744998/ The unions that represent workers at the Department of Conservation and Recreation in Massachusetts are sounding the alarm about the lack of staff at state parks. It’s a problem that could grow with the summer season quickly approaching. On a picture-perfect June day, Aleksandra Komlenic and Jessica Pereira say Lake Cochituate is just where they want to be. "It’s a great way to enjoy the summer," said Komlenic. "Especially with the great weather that we’ve been having lately." But they don’t feel they’re seeing enough DCR employees keeping watch on such a vast area. "They do have people driving around throughout the day but not as much as they should," said Pereira. "There’s a lot of people that don’t follow the rules. “There definitely should be more staff on the beach area. There’s a lot of children swimming alone." The union that represents DCR employees said there are too...
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Short-staffed and strapped for cash, state parks struggle to handle surge of warm-weather crowds

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Short-staffed and strapped for cash, state parks struggle to handle surge of warm-weather crowds Alexander Thompson | The Boston Globe | June 7, 2022 https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/06/07/metro/short-staffed-strapped-cash-state-parks-struggle-handle-surge-warm-weather-crowds/ NATICK — On a picturesque Sunday afternoon, Cochituate State Park was in high demand. Nearly every picnic table was taken, kids played on the lakeside beach, and smoke from a dozen barbecues mingled in the air with strains of Spanish and Portuguese music. By a little after 3 p.m., the parking lot was full, and the staff closed the gates. State parks have enjoyed a renaissance during the pandemic, and this spring, crowds have surged to public beaches, trails, and campsites in unprecedented numbers. While state officials do not keep an exact count of visitors, they point to Google mobility data that show a 29 percent increase in movement to and from parks over the past few weeks, compared to a pre-pandemic baseline. But what should be a crowning moment for the state park system has been undercut by budget...
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More lifeguards hired for this summer at state facilities, DCR says

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More lifeguards hired for this summer at state facilities, DCR says Grace Gilson | The Boston Globe | May 28, 2022 https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/05/28/metro/more-lifeguards-hired-this-summer-state-facilities-dcr-says/ After Massachusetts last summer struggled with a shortage of lifeguards, the state Department of Conservation and Recreation this summer is in a better position to staff its beaches, pools, and other swimming facilities. The state has 623 lifeguards already hired this summer, compared to 580employed last summer, according to the department. Officials say an increase in hourly pay and a bonus program, along with free lifeguard training, helped to draw more applicants for this season, which starts over the Memorial Day weekend. “We’ve had a very good response rate and universe of applicants and that is because we’ve been working on recruitment basically since the end of last summer,” said Stephanie Cooper, the acting commissioner of DCR. Cooper said DCR looked into lifeguard recruitment programs around the country. An increase in funding from the Baker administration allowed the hourly pay rate to increase from $20...
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State Parks Are Trying to Attract More Diverse Visitors

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State Parks Are Trying to Attract More Diverse Visitors Marsha Mercer | The Pew Charitable Trusts | May 31, 2022 https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2022/05/31/state-parks-are-trying-to-attract-more-diverse-visitors As Americans plan their summer vacations, states around the country are struggling with a persistent challenge: how to attract more Black residents and other visitors of color to their parks. The racial gap in park visitation is longstanding: Officials estimate that about 3 in 4 visitors to America’s state and national parks are White, well above the population rate of 60%. But since the police murder of George Floyd in 2020 sparked a national reckoning on race, state leaders have intensified their efforts to increase diversity. The coronavirus pandemic has further sharpened the focus on access to state parks, state officials say. “We all want our user base to be as diverse as possible. It hasn’t been,” said Rodney Franklin, director of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Parks Division, in an interview. Federal officials have made similar efforts. The National Park Service in 2013...
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State officials working to create ‘playbook’ to manage nine SouthCoast DCR properties

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State officials working to create 'playbook' to manage nine SouthCoast DCR properties Kathryn Gallerani | Standard-Times (via Yahoo! News) | May 23, 2022 https://news.yahoo.com/state-officials-working-create-playbook-070400785.html NEW BEDFORD — Residents are invited to listen in as state officials work to create a playbook for the future of nine state Department of Conservation & Recreation properties on the SouthCoast. Acting Department of Conservation & Recreation Commissioner Stephanie Cooper said a resource management plan is an overall management plan for a group of DCR properties that looks at everything from the natural resources and how they are managed to park operations. “The resource management plan is basically our playbook for how we manage the facility and how we think about investing in it over the short-term and the long-term,” she said. Resource management plans are being prepared for nine properties in the SouthCoast District. They are Watson Pond State Park in Taunton, Raynham State Forest, Berkley State Forest, Massasoit State Park in Taunton, Sweets Knoll State Park in Dighton, Dighton Rock State Park, Freetown-Fall River State...
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MCV Testimony on H.4720

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Massachusetts Conservation Voters Testimony on H.4720 May 13, 2022 Subject: Mass Conservation Voters Testimony on H.4720 Dear Chairman Lesser, Chairman Parisella and committee members, I write today to voice Mass Conservation Voters’ support for proposed appropriations to the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) via the Baker Administration's H.4720, An Act Investing in Future Opportunities for Resiliency, Workforce, And Revitalized Downtowns (FORWARD). MCV is the only statewide, non-partisan, non-profit NGO dedicated primarily to supporting our state parks and the millions of residents and visitors who visit them. The Special Legislative Commission on DCR confirmed what we all knew for some time. In addition to suffering from more than a decade of chronic underfunding for parks and recreation operations, including the loss of 300 FTE’s since 2009, DCR is also hamstrung by a $1.0 billion deferred maintenance backlog. The Special Commission also noted that for a state our size, Massachusetts has one of the largest state park systems in the nation, yet we are dead last in...
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Much to be happy about in Senate Ways & Means proposed FY2023 budget

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Much to be happy about in Senate Ways & Means proposed FY2023 budget Doug Pizzi, Executive Director | May 20, 2022 The Senate Ways & Means Committee’s FY2023 budget proposal, made public last week, contains some good operating budget and budget policy news. Ways & Means is seeking a healthy increase for the Department of Conservation and Recreation’s (DCR) parks and recreation operations account and, like the Governor and House before it, has replaced retained revenue, money from user fees, leases, other income, with general revenue tax dollars for DCR’s day-to-day operations. Mass Conservation Voters (MCV) would like to thank Senate Ways & Means Chair Michael Rodrigues and the rest of the committee for advancing DCR’s, and more importantly, park users’ interests in our state parks. The Senate will begin debating the budget on Tuesday, May 24th. Ways & Means is proposing to fund DCR’s Parks and Recreation Operations Account (2810-0100) at $85 million. Earlier this year, Gov. Baker’s proposed $73.5 million while the...
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The 14 best state parks in Massachusetts you really shouldn’t miss

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The 14 best state parks in Massachusetts you really shouldn't miss Annika Hipple | Lonely Planet | May 17, 2022 https://www.lonelyplanet.com/articles/best-state-parks-in-massachusetts More than 150 sites make up Massachusetts’ superlative network of state parks, encompassing a diverse array of landscapes and historic sites. With so many outstanding choices it’s impossible to choose a definitive list of the best state parks in Massachusetts, but here are several you really shouldn’t miss. Do I have to pay to enter Massachusetts state parks?  All state parks are free to enter, though many popular sites charge daily parking fees, some year-round and others seasonally.  These fees are significantly higher for out-of-state visitors than for Massachusetts residents, with residency determined solely by the vehicle’s license plate. Massachusetts residents can purchase an annual park pass online. It’s valid for one calendar year; both a Massachusetts driver’s license and a Massachusetts license plate are required.  To see the full list, click here...
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Municipal officials and advocates line up to support Gov. Baker’s economic development and infrastructure bill

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Municipal officials and advocates line up to support Gov. Baker’s economic development and infrastructure bill By Doug Pizzi, Executive Director | May 10, 2022 The Legislature’s Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies on Monday, May 9, held a hearing on Gov. Charlie Baker’s massive, 113-page plan to spend $3.5 billion on capital projects. H.4720, An Act Investing in Future Opportunities for Resiliency, Workforce, And Revitalized Downtowns (FORWARD) funds projects in every community in the state. Of that sum, $2.2 billion would come from the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and $1.3 billion from state capital funds. A parade of municipal officials and advocates from across the state testified in favor of various provisions in the bill, and equally important, the Governor’s timely submission of the bill. MCV is submitting written testimony to the joint committee in favor of the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) spending in the bill. Within the bill, Gov. Baker is proposing $258 million for DCR facilities,...
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