Pandemic has proven parks and other open spaces are essential services

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Pandemic has proven parks and other open spaces are essential services Chuck Anastas and Doug Pizzi | June 17, 2020 In Massachusetts, the pandemic is an unprecedented public health and economic disaster. Thousands have died, tens of thousands are unemployed, state revenues are plummeting, and the future is uncertain. Amidst all of this, one thing is true – the essential importance of parks and open spaces to our physical and mental health. This is particularly true of our state parks, forests and other facilities managed by the state Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR). Before the pandemic hit, DCR was making progress recovering from budget and staff cuts going back to the Great Recession of 2008. Massachusetts Conservation Voters (MCV) is the only statewide, non-partisan, non-profit organization solely focused on helping DCR avoid suffering another round of devastating budget cuts during a time that its services are needed most. But this is a difficult goal and we need your help to be successful. MCV...
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Massachusetts should borrow to avoid big budget cuts

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Our coronavirus pandemic-triggered fiscal problems call for an unconventional solution. By The Boston Globe Editorial Board, June 10, 2020 Massachusetts will soon face a budgetary reckoning because of a huge revenue shortfall caused by the pandemic-prompted economic slowdown. The conventional remedy to periodic budget crises caused by a soft economy — substantial spending cuts on state services like health care, state parks, and public higher education; income or sales tax increases; or a combination of the two — are unwise in this instance, and could even prolong the economic misery. Absent sufficient federal aid, the better solution is to borrow over several years to pave the way through the pandemic rough patch. Like many states, Massachusetts has legal constraints against rolling a deficit from one fiscal year into the next. Policy makers can temporize to some degree, but ultimately a solution must be found. The best way forward, obviously, would be an infusion of federal dollars: Unlike states, Washington can run deficits as big as it...
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DCR Opens Spray Decks, Playgrounds, and Fitness Areas to the Public

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Press Release | Department of Conservation and Recreation | June 16, 2020 https://www.mass.gov/news/dcr-opens-spray-decks-playgrounds-and-fitness-areas-to-the-public BOSTON — The Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) announced that it has opened agency-managed spray decks, playgrounds, and fitness areas for public use in accordance with safety standards issued by the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) as part of Phase II of the Baker-Polito Administration’s reopening plan. The department will be conducting periodic cleanings of spray decks, playgrounds and fitness areas and has posted signage providing visitors with guidance when using the facilities. For guidance and additional information, please click here....
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DCR cancels all state campground reservations

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Starting over, season will now start July 1 By Bruce Mohl, June 4, 2020 THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION canceled all existing reservations at state campgrounds on Thursday and said new reservations can be made starting later this month for stays beginning on July 1. The decision, which affects tens of thousands of campers who often make their reservations six months in advance, signals the state is taking a very cautious approach on camping during the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s unclear how much revenue the state is losing; a spokeswoman for the Department of Conservation and Recreation, which oversees all state parks and campgrounds, could not be reached for comment. Under the administration’s own reopening guidance, the state campgrounds could have opened already, but only for people with self-contained recreational vehicles or those staying in cabins and Yurts. But DCR chose not to open at all and on Thursday decided to put off opening until July 1. The agency also decided not to accept reservations for Yurts and cabins, despite...
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Parks matter more than ever during a time of sickness

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Richard leBrasseur | The Conversation | May 18, 2020 https://theconversation.com/parks-matter-more-than-ever-during-a-time-of-sickness-something-frederick-law-olmsted-understood-in-the-19th-century-137882 Parks matter more than ever during a time of sickness – something Frederick Law Olmsted understood in the 19th century The COVID-19 pandemic has altered humans’ relationship with natural landscapes in ways that may be long-lasting. One of its most direct effects on people’s daily lives is reduced access to public parks. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued guidelines urging Americans to stay at home whenever feasible, and to avoid discretionary travel and gatherings of more than 10 people. Emergency declarations and stay-at-home orders vary from state to state, but many jurisdictions have closed state and county parks, as well as smaller parks, playgrounds, beaches and other outdoor destinations. There’s good reason for these actions, especially in places where people have spurned social distancing rules. But particularly in urban environments, parks are important to human health and well-being. As a landscape architect, I believe that Frederick Law Olmsted, the founder of our...
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Parks are essential — especially during the coronavirus pandemic

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Julia Africa, Cheri Ruane, Gary Hilderbrand, Chris Reed | The Boston Globe | May 6, 2020 https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/05/05/opinion/parks-are-essential-especially-during-coronavirus-pandemic/ Now, more than ever, our parks must be understood as essential public infrastructure. Not unlike essential workers, their contributions during a pandemic should be celebrated, protected, and ultimately leveraged to support public health. We must shift our thinking to repurpose public spaces during times of crisis, restore their ecologies when the crisis abates, and adapt our parks to better accommodate urban populations (especially those who have been historically underserved) for the future. In Boston, we rely on our Emerald Necklace park system — which stretches from Olmsted Park in Brookline to Franklin Park in Dorchester — for so much more than a walk in the park. In times of peace, these iconic landscapes have played just about every starring role: as cow pastures, premodern sewage treatment ecologies, muster grounds, performance venues, flood-retention basins, and stages for visiting dignitaries, and historic movements (civil rights, Women’s March, March...
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An opportunity to reimagine Boston’s open spaces

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Kathy Abbott | The Boston Globe | May 4, 2020 https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/05/04/opinion/an-unprecedented-opportunity-reimagine-future-bostons-open-spaces/ Today, Boston’s typically bustling streets and plazas are nearly deserted. But from the Harborwalk to the Back Bay, it’s clear individuals and families cherish parks and open spaces as escapes during a time of physical distancing due to the coronavirus pandemic. At a moment when our lives have been stripped to their barest essentials, we have seen what Boston collectively values most for its community. Health and safety are clearly the highest priorities, along with economic security. Our parks and open spaces are right behind. Familiar parks, paths, and plazas are a refuge, providing emotional, mental, and physical release. This moment of tabula rasa in parks and the city as a whole has suddenly and dramatically clarified something critical for moving forward: We have to stop thinking about parks as one-off, leftover spaces amid development. Given that, status quo practices for land-use planning need to be shifted. Instead of inserting small, isolated green...
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Warm Weather Crowds Cause Closures at Mass. State Parks Over Social Distancing

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Asher Klein | NBC 10 Boston | May 2, 2020 https://www.nbcboston.com/news/coronavirus/warm-weather-crowds-cause-closures-at-mass-state-parks-over-social-distancing/2117523/ Authorities across New England have been concerned that the arrival of warm weather, which had taken its time, this weekend would bring people out to parks and beaches in enough numbers that they wouldn't be able to maintain effective social distance. The first Saturday of May finally brought spring weather to Massachusetts, drawing people out of their homes for a breath of fresh air amid the stay-at-home advisory. But they filled up state parks, prompting authorities to close at least five of them temporarily Saturday afternoon. Two had to be closed twice: Concord's Walden Pond State Reservation and Princeton's Wachusett Mountain State Reservation. The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation tweeted out the two-hour-plus closures, put in place to limit the number of people inside the park. To read the full story, please click here....
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Keep parks open. The benefits of fresh air outweigh the risks of infection.

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William "Ned" Friedman, Joseph G. Allen and Marc Lipsitch | The Washington Post | April 13, 2020 https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/04/13/keep-parks-open-benefits-fresh-air-outweigh-risks-infection/ In the midst of a pandemic, urban life goes on. People are mourning the loss of a spouse, battling cancer and dealing with anxieties and stress from everyday life on top of new anxieties and stress from the coronavirus, all of which is often made worse by economic insecurity and extended duties of caring for children and elderly relatives. What public-health and well-being policies can help alleviate some of the extraordinary stressors that urbanites are feeling across the nation right now? Part of the answer is baked into every city in the country. It is our public green spaces, our parks, botanical gardens and arboreta right outside our doors or down the street. Regrettably, though, many public green spaces across the country have been closed. Yes, in most cases, there have been good reasons for the specific closings: overcrowding with parking lots jammed, egregious disregard for...
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De Blasio Commits to 100 Miles of ‘Open Streets’

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Gersh Kuntzman | StreetsBlog NYC | April 27, 2020 https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2020/04/27/breaking-de-blasio-commits-to-100-miles-of-open-streets/ Mayor de Blasio just did the City Council 33 percent better — he’s committed to opening up 100 miles of streets for socially responsible recreation during the COVID-19 crisis. At his virtual press conference this morning, de Blasio said negotiations with the City Council — which is pushing its own bill for 75 miles of car-free space — have yielded success: 40 miles of open streets this month, with a goal of 100 miles at an unspecified date in the future of the crisis. “The City Council came forward with a vision for how we could open up more streets and do it in a way that’s responsive to the core concerns of the NYPD over safety and enforcement,” the mayor said. “Over the next month, we will create a minimum of 40 miles of open streets. And as the crisis continues, the goal is to get up to 100 miles. We will focus first on...
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State coastal beach reservation parking lots closed to reduce crowds during COVID-19 pandemic

State coastal beach reservation parking lots closed to reduce crowds during COVID-19 pandemic

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Scott J. Croteau | MassLive.com | April 2, 2020 https://www.masslive.com/coronavirus/2020/04/coronavirus-in-massachusetts-state-coastal-beach-reservation-parking-lots-closed-to-reduce-crowds-during-covid-19-pandemic.html Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker issued an emergency order Thursday requiring all coastal beach reservation parking areas managed by the state Department of Conservation and Recreation to close. The order said all of those locations will close by 12 p.m. on Friday, April 3. The measure was put in place to reduce large crowds of people at beaches during the COVID-19 outbreak. “Coastal parkways that provide access to state beaches will also be closed to both parking and dropping off passengers,” Baker’s office said. “State beaches will remain open and available to pedestrians for transitory use only - walking, jogging, biking, solitary fishing, etc.” Parking restrictions can be found here. The state will open select seasonal state parks early and expand access at other parks to provide more open space for residents. The charges will take place April 3, Friday, at 12 p.m. The parks that will open early are: Willard Brook State Forest in Townsend; Dunn State Park In Gardner; Ashland State...
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Massachusetts State Parks COVID – 19 Update

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Press Release, Department of Conservation & Recreation | March 2020 In an effort to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus, the Baker-Polito Administration is urging the public to stay home as much as possible to avoid person-to-person contact. However, should individuals and their families need to get outside for healthy, outdoor recreational activities, including walking, hiking, jogging, and bike riding, Massachusetts state parks and other natural resources managed by DCR remain open and accessible to the public. Additionally, state parks are public areas, and while the agency continues to make efforts to sanitize high-touch locations, these surfaces are only as clean as the last person who has come in contact with it. Please take appropriate steps to protect your health and the health of others by following the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s (DPH) guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Visitors to state parks should follow these additional guidelines: Minimize outdoor recreational time to limit potential exposure...
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March Blog: Get Thee to a Park

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Get Thee to a Park Doug Pizzi | March 26, 2020 As we hunker down in response to COVID-19 and distance ourselves from each other, there are precious few opportunities to break the sheer monotony. Sure you can watch television, listen to music, read, and play games, all worthy pursuits, especially now. But that’s not going to get your heart rate up or give you that endorphin fix that you regularly need to feel healthy physically and mentally. Fortunately, one of the best things we can do to accomplish that goal is still available to us. If we do it responsibly, we can still take advantage of our massive state park system. Read: Massachusetts State Parks COVID-19 Update With 450,000 acres under management, the state Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) is largely open for business. Of course, they have closed the skating rinks, playgrounds, outdoor athletic fields and courts, and other facilities that, by their very nature, bring people in close proximity...
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The Ecology of Disease

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Jim Robbins | The New York Times | July 14, 2012 https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/15/sunday-review/the-ecology-of-disease.html THERE’S a term biologists and economists use these days — ecosystem services — which refers to the many ways nature supports the human endeavor. Forests filter the water we drink, for example, and birds and bees pollinate crops, both of which have substantial economic as well as biological value. If we fail to understand and take care of the natural world, it can cause a breakdown of these systems and come back to haunt us in ways we know little about. A critical example is a developing model of infectious disease that shows that most epidemics — AIDS, Ebola, West Nile, SARS, Lyme disease and hundreds more that have occurred over the last several decades — don’t just happen. They are a result of things people do to nature. Disease, it turns out, is largely an environmental issue. Sixty percent of emerging infectious diseases that affect humans are zoonotic — they...
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Permanent LWCF funding full speed ahead after decades of talk

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Kellie Lunney, E&E News reporter Published: Thursday, March 5, 2020 A bipartisan group of Senate lawmakers addressing national parks and Land and Water Conservation Fund legislation yesterday. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.)/Facebook Congress is poised to pass the most significant conservation legislation in at least 50 years because dozens of lawmakers worked across the aisle for years to make it happen. But election-year politics and a presidential tweet also could take ample credit if the bill is enacted. The sausage-making has been worth it to get to this "extraordinary" moment, several Democrats and Republicans who strongly support the Land and Water Conservation Fund said yesterday during a Senate press conference. "I really don't care," said Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) on whether President Trump's embrace this week of mandatory funding for LWCF had more to do with electoral politics than a sudden change of heart about a program his administration has repeatedly tried to gut. "The politics, whatever they want to play with it, this needs to...
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