50+ Organizations Sign Letter to Support State Parks

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50+ Organizations Sign Letter to Support State Parks Despite significant progress during the FY2023 budget process and the recently passed economic development bill, our parks remain in crisis due to a decade of underfunding and understaffing. During this period, the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) lost some 300 positions and accumulated a $1.0 billion deferred maintenance backlog. This reality prompted Massachusetts Conservation Voters (MCV) to hold a state parks summit on October 14, 2022. Participants drafted the open letter below, signed by more than 50 park-supporting organizations across the Commonwealth. The letter provides a path to reverse the shockingly sad fact that Massachusetts is ranked 50th in the U.S. in per capita spending on state and municipal parks. We hope this will be the start of an ongoing, fruitful discussion to bring our parks into the 21st Century. During the worst of the pandemic, park visits increased exponentially, a trend that continues today, proving beyond all doubt that our public open spaces...
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MCV’s November Blog, The Economic Development Bill

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MCV's November Blog, The Economic Development Bill Chuck Anastas | November 6, 2022 The Economic Development Bill, H. 5374, passed by the Legislature last week, includes $100 million (out of a total of $175 million) for communities disenfranchised from the state park system bringing much-needed open space and recreation to historically ignored and underfunded neighborhoods. The $100 million targeted for new and existing open spaces includes $75 million for environmental justice communities and $25 million for neighborhoods “disproportionally impacted by the 2019 novel coronavirus.” The Legislature has heard from its constituents the importance of open spaces, which played a crucial role in helping all of us survive the impacts of the pandemic. Improving and expanding open spaces and pedestrian and bike trail connections for these neighborhoods must be a priority for our citizens' health, safety, and enjoyment. However, the bill is a mixed bag in other ways. While the $175 million may be spent rebuilding and expanding our state park system, they are not...
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MCV’s August Blog, A Mid-Year Parks Roundup

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MCV's August Blog, A Mid-Year Parks Roundup Chuck Anastas | August 15, 2022 HEAT ISLANDS The dog days of summer are now behind us, and we’ve learned this year that extreme heat, like the impacts of the pandemic, can be mitigated by public open spaces. Although many of the most severe heat islands can be found in urban areas, they are also in dense mixed-use suburban downtowns. Many of the state’s existing land preservation efforts are primarily centered on adding to existing large tracts of state open space, which continue to be crucial for the state’s future ecological health and its efforts to combat climate change. Those efforts must continue. But we also need a new emphasis on assisting densely populated areas with the tools and funding to add to open space for residents’ health now and in the future. PRIVATE-PUBLIC PARTNERSHIPS A year ago, MCV noted an important milestone made by the DCR Stewardship Council - budget recommendations to the Administration for the department, making...
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Public Lands Preservation Act, State Budget Updates

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Public Lands Preservation Act, State Budget Updates Doug Pizzi | August 4, 2022 The following are updates on the Public Lands Preservation Act and the State Budget. PLPA: The coalition supporting the Public Lands Preservation Act (PLPA), which includes MCV, has weighed in on the Legislature’s inability to come to an agreement between the House and Senate versions of the bill before the legislative session ended in the early morning hours of Aug. 1. We are disappointed the legislative conference committee named to bring the respective versions into agreement could not finish before the clock ran out. The coalition supporting the bill has urged legislators to continue working so that the bill can come up for approval in informal session. The conferees have committed to as much. The reason to avoid missing the end of session deadline is that for a bill to pass in an informal session the vote must be unanimous. More succinctly, one no vote can scuttle a bill. But the...
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Joint Statement on the Public Lands Preservation Act Conference Committee

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Joint Statement on the Public Lands Preservation Act Conference Committee August 2, 2022 A coalition of environmental groups, including the Massachusetts Conservation Voters (MCV), today issued this statement on the legislative conference committee's inability to reach consensus on the Public Lands Preservation Act. MCV will continue to advocate for this bill, which now would have to pass in an informal session before year's end, where one objection can derail it. Joint-Statement-re-PLPA-Conference-Committee_02AUG22Download...
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Things are looking decidedly better for our parks

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Things are looking decidedly better for our parks Doug Pizzi | July 20, 2022 The state Legislature on Monday sent a $52.7 billion FY 2023 budget to Gov. Baker for his consideration. The budget contains considerable good news for our state parks, people who frequent them, and those who care for them at the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR). If Baker approves the proposed funding for DCR, the Parks and Recreation Operations Account (2810-0100) will see about a $10 million increase, to $85 million, an increase Mass Conservation Voters has been seeking for this account for nearly a year. The Legislature also funded a separate earmarks account, which funds specific projects in lawmaker’s districts, at $8.0 million. MCV had asked lawmakers to keep earmarks out of the general operating budget because every earmark in that budget reduces funding for day-to-day operations by a like amount. The action comes on the heels of last December’s report from the Special Legislative Commission on DCR, which...
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The DCR Revolving Door Keeps Spinning

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The DCR Revolving Door Keeps Spinning By Chuck Anastas | July 2022 At the end of June, Acting Commissioner Stephanie Cooper resigned and returned to DEP. This was her second Acting Commissioner term with DCR. She previously served during the early months of Governor Baker’s first term in office. We thank her for her service. She’s the fifth Commissioner, acting or permanent, since Governor Baker’s term began in January 2015. Doug Rice from the MWRA, and formerly general council at DCR, is now the sixth. We wish him well. He will serve nine months less than the average Commissioner’s stay of 1.3 years.** The DCR Revolving Door began in 2015 with the appointment of Carol Sanchez. It took the Governor until April to name her as Commissioner – hardly a priority appointment. The little-known Sanchez lasted until November, overwhelmed by the Baker/Polito DCR politically appointed bad actors in her midst. Unfortunately, some of those same bad actors would last long enough to help...
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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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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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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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H. 4720. An Act investing in future opportunities for resiliency, workforce, and revitalized downtowns. (abridged)

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H. 4720. An Act investing in future opportunities for resiliency, workforce, and revitalized downtowns. (abridged) To download and view Bill H.4720 An Act investing in future opportunities for resiliency, workforce, and revitalized downtowns in its entirety, please click here. Lines 790-875 for state parks and trails $1,700,000 for the Hetland Rink Remediation; 310 Hathaway Blvd, New Bedford. $5,000,000 for improvements to Fort Andrew at Peddocks Island; Boston Harbor. $1,000,000 for the Lewis Chemical Remediation; 12 Fairmount Court, Boston (Hyde Park.) $1,500,000 for the rehabilitation of historic recreational towers including but not limited to: Bear Hill Tower, Stoneham, Middlesex Fells.Norumbega Tower, Norumbega Road Weston.Quabbin Tower, DCR Quabbin Park Middle Gate off Rt. 9, Belchertown, MA 01007.Myles Standish Monument, Crescent St, Duxbury, MA 02332.Chickatawbut Tower, Canton Avenue, Milton.Mt. Tom Tower, 125 Reservation Rd, Holyoke, MA 01040, Holyoke. $2,200,000 for the Spot Pond Brook flood control remediation, Melrose MA. $5,000,000 for the Brook Farm Historic Site, 670 Baker Street, West Roxbury. $2,400,000 for Hop Brook Flood Control Remediation, Northborough. $2,000,000 for the Nahant State...
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80 (and counting!) State Representatives Co-Sponsor Amendment to Increase DCR Funding

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80 (and counting!) State Representatives Co-Sponsor Amendment to Increase DCR Funding A quick note from our Executive Director, Doug Pizzi-- Dear MCV Members and State Representatives, Massachusetts Conservation Voters thanks you for contacting your state representatives to ask them to co-sponsor Amendment #13 to H.4700, the House's FY2023 proposed budget. If the House adopts the amendment, the Department of Conservation and Recreation’s (DCR) Parks and Recreation Operations line item (2810-0100) would jump to $83 million. While we appreciate that the House Ways & Means Committee increased the Governor’s proposed $73.5 million to $78.7 million, MCV thinks the higher figure is justifiable given the pandemic-driven exponential increase in use of our forests, parks, beaches and other DCR facilities. As of this writing, 80 of the 160 House members (list below) have signed on to the amendment offered by state Rep. William "Smitty" Pignatelli. MCV thanks Rep. Pignatelli for sponsoring the amendment, and those who have already signed on as co-sponsors. If your state representative is...
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We need your help with House Ways & Means this month

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We need your help with House Ways & Means this month Doug Pizzi, Executive Director | April 5, 2022 State budget season, an annual rite of Spring, is upon us. The Legislature is now considering Gov. Charlie Baker’s proposed FY 2023 budget, which, when all is said and done, will go into effect when the new fiscal year begins on July 1. Last month, MCV submitted testimony on Baker’s proposed Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) budget to the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Ways & Means. If you’ve been following along with us, you know there were some things we liked and things we didn’t like in Baker’s document. We liked getting rid of the growing dependence on park user fees, licenses, leases and other variable income, commonly called Retained Revenue, to run the parks on a day-to-day basis. We didn’t like the level of funding the governor proposed for the Parks and Recreation Operations account, which we think is about $10 million...
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The “Park”ways We Need

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The “Park”ways We Need Guest Blog by Ellery Klein | April 5, 2022 "To protect, promote and enhance our common wealth of natural, cultural and recreational resources for the well-being of all." - DCR Mission Statement In 1968, the Cheonggye Creek in Seoul, Korea met its end. It was covered by an elevated freeway and its destruction labeled as “progress,” a sacrifice to the relentless pressure from the automobile industry.  But by the late ‘90’s, noise and particulate pollution was sky-high in the area surrounding the freeway’s speeding cars. Frustrated residents asked a radical question: does this highway even need to be here? In 2001, voters elected Mayor Lee Myung-bak to take it down. By 2005, the highway was dismantled. A nine-kilometer-long artificial creek now runs through the city. Quality of life is immensely better for residents. More than a  half-million tourists visit the creek each year. Temperatures are 3.3 degrees lower in the summer. Rainwater that could flood streets instead flows out safely via...
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