Tag: Blog Post

Parklands Under Assault – Update By Chuck Anastas | July 24, 2024 In March, MCV's blog, Parklands Under Assault, described the pressures exerted by the City of Boston and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on open space and recreational facilities in and around Roxbury, Mattapan, Dorchester, and Jamaica Plain. We're happy to report the city and state stepped up and kept their word on the Melnea Cass Recreation Facility and the "temporary" emergency housing cottages bordering Franklin Park. As Gov. Maura Healey and Mayor Michelle Wu promised, the Melnea Cass Recreational Facility, after serving as a temporary shelter for immigrants, reverted to a recreational facility for the community at the end of May. The facility is now undergoing improvements, projected for completion by the beginning of the school year. MCV thanks the Commissioner of the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), Brian Arrigo, for meeting the deadline. In the future, there will likely be more examples of public facilities temporarily converted to housing for immigrants or...

Parklands Under Assault By Chuck Anastas | March 6, 2024 Neighborhoods in and around Franklin Park - Roxbury, Mattapan, Dorchester, and Jamaica Plain, have experienced an assault on their recreational facilities and parklands over the last five years. It began with the disastrous attempt by the state under the Baker Administration to replace the Lemuel Shattuck Hospital, formerly a part of Franklin Park, taken by the state legislature in 1949. After presenting a redevelopment of the facility on former parkland, the Division of Capital Asset Management accepted a proposal five times larger than originally proposed - a move since stayed by Governor Healey but not yet rescinded. Also, the Baker Administration placed small temporary cottages on the Shattuck Hospital land abutting Franklin Park to offer emergency cottage-like-housing and addiction services during the worst months of Boston's homeless crisis to help alleviate the tent city that sprung up on the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Blvd. More than a year later the cottages...

Opportunity to Support State Parks Don’t miss your chance to comment on the Stewardship Council Strategic Oversight Plan! In 2004 the Legislature merged the Metropolitan District Commission, the state’s metro-Boston parks agency, with the Department of Environmental Management, which ran state parks in the rest of Massachusetts, to form the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR). The enabling legislation also created the DCR Stewardship Council as a quasi-board of directors to oversee the new entity. That legislation requires the Stewardship Council to periodically review its oversight plan and to seek public input while doing so.   The public has until close of business, Tuesday, August 22, to review and comment on the Strategic Oversight Plan. Mass Parks for All will be submitting its comments during this period, and we encourage our members to also take advantage of this opportunity to weigh in on the Stewardship Council’s priorities over the next two years. You can submit public comments here, or by letter at: DCRC/O Matthew Perry10 Park Plaza...

Mass Parks For All By Doug Pizzi More than 100 people attended our May 11 announcement on the creation of MCV’s new 501(C)(3) charitable corporation, Mass Parks For All (MPA). Joining us at the event were DCR Commissioner Brian Arrigo; and Sen. Jamie Eldridge and state Rep. Ruth Balser, whom we honored for their leadership in their respective chambers to pass the Public Lands Preservation Act (PLPA). Also in attendance were former environmental secretaries Bob Durand and John DeVillers, DCR Stewardship Council Chair Jack Buckley and former Chair Whitney Hatch, Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller, as well as David Solomon and Herb Nolan of the Lawrence & Lillian Solomon Foundation, who announced a $50,000 challenge grant to start MPA off on the right track. More about that later. MPA board Chair Karen Charles and Vice Chair Michele Hanss, introduced the new entity by talking about MPA’s mission to renew, expand, and connect our state parks and other public lands. Hanss, who hosted the event, welcomed the...

April Blog: A Word on our New DCR Commissioner Doug Pizzi | April 18, 2023 MCV has received calls and emails questioning the qualifications of the Healey-Driscoll Administration’s appointment to lead the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR). Following MCV’s State Park Summit last October, we and more than 50 conservation organizations issued an open letter detailing the background and skills needed to lead the agency. While it is true that Revere Mayor Brian Arrigo does not have an extensive background in land and resource management, he does have considerable experience and expertise in running a small city. As mayor, he presides over a $240 million annual budget in a city that employs more than 400 people, not including the School Department. In addition, as DCR commissioner, he will preside over an agency that shares many characteristics with a city. These include road maintenance and snow plowing, streetlight maintenance, solid waste removal, water quality protection, and park operations and maintenance – the number...

MCV is Making A List, Checking it Twice ‘Tis the season, so we’re making a list and checking it twice. Without further ado, here’s the Massachusetts Conservation Voters’ (MCV) Wish List for 2023: An experienced Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) Commissioner with vision, and leadership, committed to parks and open spaces, who will serve at least four years. More Public/Private Partnership funding for DCR park improvements. A dollar amount affixed to the Parkways Master Plan and a public planning and construction schedule. A cabinet-level Secretary of Conservation, Recreation, Wildlife Management, and Agriculture reporting directly to the Governor. More public ocean beaches, bike and pedestrian trails, and universal access to these facilities. Clean park bathrooms and staffed park headquarters open all year. A DCR Stewardship Council at full membership. A DCR 311-call line for park users to report issues directly to the agency. Significant progress toward eliminating DCR’s $1.0 billion deferred maintenance backlog outlined in a transparent DCR capital planning, spending, and construction plan. More school trips to state parks and open...

Legislative Parks Caucus Meets Doug Pizzi | December 8, 2022 On December 7, the state Legislature’s Parks Caucus met for the first time in recent memory. More than 70 legislators, aides, and park and conservation advocates joined caucus chairs Senator Michael Rush and Representative Bruce Ayers in discussing the future of our parks. More specifically, how to rebuild the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) to 2008 staffing levels while continuing to work on the reforms outlined by the Legislative Special Commission on DCR. Senator William Brownsberger, who created the special commission, outlined his priorities, including more and consistent funding, strengthening the DCR Stewardship Council’s role in guiding the agency, and elevating DCR to a cabinet-level agency reporting directly to the Governor. Heather Clish (Appalachian Mountain Club) and Laura Jasinski (Charles River Conservancy) outlined DCR’s efforts to fulfill the aspirations of the Special Commission, which released its final report in December of 2021, over the past year. To its credit, DCR hit the ground...