Category: News

Baker-Polito Administration Files $3.5 Billion Economic Development Legislation Press Release | The Governor's Office | April 21, 2022 https://www.mass.gov/news/baker-polito-administration-files-35-billion-economic-development-legislation Today, Governor Charlie Baker filed legislation to make $3.5 billion in investments to support Massachusetts’s path forward as the Commonwealth transitions into a post-pandemic world, including projects to strengthen state infrastructure, create jobs and invest in all 351 cities and towns in the Commonwealth. The legislation, An Act Investing in Future Opportunities for Resiliency, Workforce, and Revitalized Downtowns (FORWARD) includes $2.3 billion in funding from the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and over $1.256 billion in capital bond authorizations. The announcement was made today in Lynn at Breakwater North Harbor, a 331-unit apartment community that broke ground in 2019 and was built in part as a result of a $1.2 million MassWorks grant to fund roadway and water infrastructure improvements, and a $1 million Seaport Economic Council grant to ensure long-term integrity of the adjacent shoreline along North Harbor. The legislation filed today would direct approximately...

Massachusetts Ranked #1 in 2022 Bicycle Friendly State Report Card Press Release | Massachusetts Department of Transportation | April 19, 2022 https://blog.mass.gov/transportation/uncategorized/massachusetts-ranked-1-in-2022-bicycle-friendly-state-report-card/ The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) and Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs are pleased to announce the League of American Bicyclists has ranked Massachusetts number 1 in the country in the organization’s 2022 Bicycle Friendly State Report Card released today. The League gives Massachusetts the grade of “A” in the categories: Infrastructure & Funding, Education & Encouragement, and Policies & Programs: Policies & Programs: https://bikeleague.org/content/new-2022-bicycle-friendly-states-rankings-massachusetts. “Investing in recreational and shared use pathways not only provides connections for people to exercise, relax, or commute, but they also foster a sense of stewardship and a shared stake in our parklands, open spaces and trails,” said Governor Charlie Baker. “We are grateful to the League of American Bicyclists for this recognition and will continue to work with our partners at the local level to build upon this important progress.” “It has been a pleasure to work...

You can go camping at these 31 Massachusetts state parks Kristi Palma | Boston.com | April 15, 2022 https://www.boston.com/travel/travel/2022/04/15/massachusetts-state-parks-camping/ 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. To see the full list, click here....

Massachusetts DCR continues recruiting push for lifeguards ahead of summer Danae Bucci | WCVB 5 | April 19, 2022 https://www.wcvb.com/article/massachusetts-dcr-lifeguard-recruiting-push/39765872 Massachusetts had a record number of drownings in 2021 and the state's Department of Conservation and Recreation are working to prevent another deadly record by combating the shortage of lifeguards. Due to the shortage, the lifeguards who worked the DCR-run beaches and pools last year were finished for the season after Labor Day — which is why state officials began their lifeguard recruitment effort early this year. “Our commitment to waterfront safety continues this year, focusing on the people responsible for preventing dangerous situations on beach and pools,” said Kathleen Theoharides, secretary of the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. New lifeguards can expect a starting salary of $21 per hour. In addition, they will be eligible for bonuses between $500 and $1,000. To read the full story, click here...

Mass. House leaders eye investments in 'better future,' unveiling nearly $50 billion budget Colin A. Young, State House News Service | WBUR | April 13, 2022 https://www.wbur.org/news/2022/04/13/massachusetts-house-budget-proposal Acknowledging that surplus tax collections and federal aid have kept Massachusetts afloat through the pandemic, House leadership on Wednesday unveiled a nearly $50 billion budget for fiscal year 2023. Speaker Ron Mariano said the budget will reinvest in lower- and middle-class residents and gird the post-COVID economy for "tough times" in the future. The House Ways and Means Committee's budget recommendation, which totals $49.629 billion and is expected to be debated the week of April 25, would increase spending by $2.015 billion, or 4.23% over the current year's budget, and proposes to spend $1.398 billion, or 2.9%, more than Gov. Charlie Baker recommended in his January budget filing. In addition to the early education and workforce development initiatives that Mariano and Ways and Means Chairman Aaron Michlewitz rolled out Monday, the House budget would also boost local aid, fully fund the...

Olmsted Now Kickoff Events for 2022 Bicentennial Edwina Kluender | Jamaica Plain News | April 4, 2022 https://www.jamaicaplainnews.com/2022/04/04/olmsted-now-kickoff-events-for-2022-bicentennial/397505 The bicentennial of the birth of Frederick Law Olmsted will be marked by Greater Boston with Olmsted Now, a collaboration to amplify the vibrancy and inclusivity of shared use, shared health and shared power in parks and public space. Initiated by Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site (Fairsted) and the Emerald Necklace Conservancy with more than 100 organizations within a 60-mile radius of the city, Olmsted Now explores these legacy values of America’s great placemaker and designer of the Emerald Necklace park system with a season of public events from April through October 2022. Olmsted Now aims to strengthen equity and community connection through a framework that centers decision-making for bicentennial programs with a Committee of Neighborhoods, Boston leaders trusted for their commitment to under-heard voices and under-served open spaces, especially those valued by their neighbors who identify as BIPOC. The initiative also fosters co-learning through monthly...

Letter: DCR lacks the resources it needs to rescue our parks from decay Letter to the Editor | The Boston Globe | April 17, 2022 Dan McKanan’s remembrance of the environmental movement in the 19th century resonates with climate change and conservation issues that we face now (“A century before the first Earth Day, there was the Forest Festival in the Middlesex Fells,” Ideas, April 10). The seeds of complacency McKanan references have borne decaying fruit today, as Massachusetts ranks last in the United States in per capita spending on parks, according to the UMass Donahue Institute’s December 2021 Department of Conservation and Recreation Special Commission Report. Organizations such as Friends of the Fells that are cited in McKanan’s piece have been strong voices for the environment, but DCR controls the parks, and the agency doesn’t have adequate resources to succeed. We recommend a three-pronged approach to reviving DCR’s capacity, based on the special commission’s recommendations. First, the state’s executive branch should quarterback an effort to...

Baker-Polito Administration Awards Over $1.2 Million For State Park Enhancement Projects Press Release | Department of Conservation & Recreation | March 21, 2022 https://www.mass.gov/news/baker-polito-administration-awards-over-12-million-for-state-park-enhancement-projects Continuing efforts to enhance the Commonwealth’s State Parks System, the Baker-Polito Administration today announced $1.24 million in funding has been awarded to 29 projects through the Department of Conservation and Recreation’s (DCR) Partnerships Matching Funds Program. This year’s awards, which include 13 new projects, were proposed by municipalities, non-profit organizations, and other entities to partner with the agency through the matching funds program to coordinate improvement projects for many of the Commonwealth’s natural, cultural, and recreational resources contained throughout the state parks system. “The DCR Partnership Matching Funds Program allows us to work with dedicated stakeholders, such as municipalities, nonprofits, and other community-based organizations to make significant investments within the Massachusetts State Parks System,” said Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Kathleen Theoharides. “Importantly, this funding will be used to improve ecological health, as well enhance and expand public use and enjoyment for years...

DCR to Offer Lifeguards Up to $1,000 in Bonuses; Increased Pay for 2022 Summer Season Press Release | Department of Conservation & Recreation | February 23, 2022 https://www.mass.gov/news/dcr-to-offer-lifeguards-up-to-1000-in-bonuses-increased-pay-for-2022-summer-season The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) today announced that the agency is offering bonuses totaling up to $1,000 to qualified lifeguard applicants for the 2022 season. An early sign-on bonus of $500 will be offered to candidates who commit to being an agency lifeguard for the summer season by Sunday, March 27, 2022. The sign-on bonus is in addition to the agency’s $500 retention bonus that will be provide to lifeguards who continue to work for the department through the end of the season. DCR has also raised the hourly rate for lifeguards for the 2022 season to between $21 and $26 depending on position and associated certifications (last year’s starting rates were $20 for lifeguards and $21 for head lifeguards). Lastly, DCR has also created a new Bureau of Pool and Waterfront...

Olmsted inspiration: Use parks to address climate change Opinion, Kathy Abbott | Commonwealth Magazine | March 30, 2022 https://commonwealthmagazine.org/opinion/olmsted-inspiration-use-parks-to-address-climate-change/ It's all too easy to imagine: a Boston neighborhood keeps flooding in extreme weather. Rising waters and dirty storm runoff threaten public health and homes. A community that wants to share in the continuing growth of a thriving city instead faces what seems to be a dire choice: Withdraw from the waterfront, or die. What may sound like a headline from tomorrow’s or even today’s news was, in fact, the very crisis facing the Back Bay and Fenway back in the late 1800s, two of the many neighborhoods in Boston developed by filling in a former tidal marsh. To mitigate and control their worsening flooding problems and protect Boston’s rapid overall growth, the legendary landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted had the bold idea of building a park to promote resilience as well as public health and recreation. Deploying what today’s planners call “green infrastructure,” Olmsted—who...

Commentary: Wu must take a strong lead on growing the city’s tree canopy Bill Walczak, | Dorchester Reporter | March 23, 2022 https://www.dotnews.com/2022/commentary-wu-must-take-strong-lead-growing-city-s-tree-canopy Boston mayors have pledged to increase the city’s tree canopy for decades, and while the latest effort to do so seems to be in earnest, we have heard that refrain before. And yet, the extent of the canopy declined from 29 to 27 percent over the last 12 years. Bottom line: Our city departments don’t make trees a priority. Boston needs to add trees everywhere, but especially in densely populated neighborhoods. As our planet continues to heat up, trees protect dense urban communities from heat domes, which are high-pressure weather systems where hot air is trapped over a single geographic area. Heat domes can keep temperatures over 100 degrees for days or weeks, and they can be very dangerous for elders and those with medical conditions that weaken the body. Boston’s chief of Environment, Energy and Open Spaces, Dorchester’s Mariama White Hammond,...

Park priority projects Sharl Heller, Massachusetts Forest & Park Friends Network | Wicked Local | March 19, 2022 https://www.wickedlocal.com/story/old-colony-memorial/2022/03/19/guest-column-park-priority-projects/9410744002/ Understanding that DCR properties are facing a billion-dollar maintenance backlog, the Massachusetts Forest and Park Friends Network - an organization comprised mainly of Friends groups who support state parks and recreation sites - asked the public for their list of park priority projects. Not wanting to focus on the negative though, the Friend’s survey also included a request to recall, in specific terms, any especially enjoyable moments they had enjoyed in a Massachusetts State Park. The response was amazing. -- “I enjoy many parks around central and eastern MA with my dogs, husband, siblings, nieces and nephews,” one response began. “The outdoors are crucial to our well-being. We frequent the Blue Hills, the Fells, Callahan State Park, Mt Pisgah in Berlin, Hale, Noanet, the Midstate Trail, and Mt Wachusett among others.” It was clear that many residents use the parks in multiple ways, like hiking, biking, riding, swimming,...