Tag: On The Record

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...

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...

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...

MCV Testimony to the Joint Committee on Ways and Means FY 2023 Budget Hearing To view the webcast from the hearing, click below: Webcast for the Joint Committee on Ways and Means FY 2023 Budget Hearing, March 11, 2022 To download a PDF of MCV's testimony, click here:Download March 11, 2022 Chairman Michael J. Rodrigues24 Beacon St.Room 212Boston, MA, 02133 Chairman Aaron Michlewitz24 Beacon St.Room 243Boston, MA, 02133 Re: Testimony on behalf of the Massachusetts Conservation Voters Dear Chairman Rodrigues and Chairman Michlewitz, On behalf of Massachusetts Conservation Voters (MCV), thank you for the opportunity to testify on the Department of Conservation and Recreation’s (DCR) FY2023 budget. MCV is a statewide non-partisan, non-profit dedicated to supporting our state parks, the millions of people who enjoy them, and the $16 billion annual outdoor economy they support. The pandemic has proven that our public open spaces are essential to our physical and emotional well-being. In March of 2020, as things were starting to shut down, I wrote a piece for our website...

Comparing the Governor’s DCR FY2023 Budget Proposal The comparison below illustrates the disinvestment in state parks since 2009. The Administration account and the all-important Parks and Recreation Operations account have remained below 2009 funding levels for the past 14 years. On the other hand, the Retained Revenue account, funded by parking and campground fees, leases and other income, grew from less than $10 million to $25 million during that time. The Seasonal Workers account, used to try to make up for the 300 positions DCR lost during this period, also saw significant increases. In fact, these are the only two accounts that have seen any meaningful increase during this period. The Governor’s FY2023 proposal has taken the Retained Revenue account, the subject of much criticism during the DCR Special Commission hearings, and buried it in three other accounts. If the Administration and the Legislature want to take a real step to reform park funding, they will fund the park system directly from...

Governor's Budget Deserves Serious Consideration Doug Pizzi, Executive Director | February 8, 2022 When Governor Charlie Baker filed his FY2023 state budget last week, he proposed a major, welcome policy shift in state park funding for the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR).   Baker wisely eliminated the retained revenue account and replaced the money DCR would have to bring in from park user fees with general revenue tax dollars. Mass Conservation Voters (MCV) has long voiced concerned about the pressure on DCR to rely on user fees. Over reliance on user fees led to last year’s ill-fated decision to place parking meters on Revere Beach Parkway. After complaints from the public, including MCV, the Legislature ordered the kiosks removed and that the money they generated be used for beach maintenance. In our comments to the Special Legislative Commission on DCR, which wrapped up its report in December, MCV called for the retained revenue account to be capped at $20 million and asked for...

Enough is enough. The Legislature must adequately fund our state parks. By Chuck Anastas, Chair of MCV's Board of Directors “During the COVID-19 pandemic, the state’s park system served as an outlet for people to enjoy open space and nature, safely, away from their homes. Further, DCR plays a critical role in thinking about conservation and climate resiliency in the state as the Commonwealth continues to wrestle with the risks associated with climate change in the coming years.” Department of Conservation and Recreation Draft Special Commission Report (link) During the last week of October, the Democratic House slashed the Governor’s proposal to use $100 million out of the more than $5.0 billion American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to $25 million. The House cut the $100 million despite a $1.0 billion deferred maintenance backlog at the DCR that the Commonwealth has carried from year to year for years. Last week the Senate voted to reduce the House amount to $15 million. Unfortunately, park supporters...

MCV submits comments in response to the Draft DCR Special Commission Report October 28, 2021 Faye Boardman, Chair, DCR Special CommissionMassachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs100 Cambridge Street, Suite 900Boston, MA 02144 Dear Chair Boardman, Thank you, Chair Boardman, Commissioners, UMDI analysts and researchers, and DCR staff, for your earnest efforts to find a better way forward for the conservation and recreational needs of our Commonwealth; and for DCR to become a fully funded agency commensurate with its vast responsibilities. On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Conservation Voters and its 5,000-voter network, we offer the following comments on the draft report and for its yet-to-be-written Executive Summary. Culture Since 1892 with the founding of what would become DCR more than a century later, we have recognized our most significant asset is the public lands we jointly own and freely access. As noted in both the Draft Report and by commenters, these lands hold priceless conservation value, are crucial for our citizens’...

DCR Stewardship Council Unanimously Passes Budget Resolution To view the DCR Stewardship Council resolution, please click here.Download Sometimes what seems like a small step becomes monumental in retrospect. Just such a moment may have occurred at the July 22nd Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) Stewardship Council meeting. For the first time, the Council unanimously passed a budget resolution early enough in the state budget process to influence the Governor’s final budget released each January. Its budget priorities include: Increasing DCR’s capacity to develop partnerships with nonprofit organizations, friends’ groups, and local governments to support its mission.Fully staffing and funding the office responsible for the development of Resource Management Plans (RMP).Supporting a new line item for a public communication and outreach campaign for state parks and programs. The Council’s interest in strengthening partnerships with park organizations has run through many Stewardship Council meetings over the past two years. This priority is welcome news for everyone who cares about a state park and wants to donate...

We have multiple opportunities to help our parks, just do it by Doug Pizzi On June 17th, the Baker Administration announced a plan to spend $2.8 billion of the state’s $5.3 billion in federal COVID-19 relief funding, including a sorely needed $100 million on state park infrastructure. Proving the Legislature can act extremely quickly when it wants to, 11 days later Gov. Charlie Baker signed a bill scrapping his plan and putting $4.9 billion of the relief funds into a special account legislators will control. Lawmakers will eventually dole this money out, perhaps with, perhaps without input from the governor, but have promised a public hearing process to inform spending decisions. MCV was solidly with the Administration’s plan to spend the $100 million on park infrastructure as a good down payment to reverse decades of not so benign neglect of our vitally needed, historic state park system. We also suggested that Baker steer some of the federal money from other categories he outlined,...

Massachusetts parks have a historic legacy worth saving One of the critical lessons this pandemic has taught us is that our open spaces, particularly public open spaces, are critical to our physical and mental health. From early on and continuing through the worst of COVID-19’s impact, writer after writer after writer from across the nation extolled the virtues of our great outdoor spaces. This was particularly true for people who live in more densely populated cities and suburbs. Closer to home, the state Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) kept everything it could safely keep open available to the public, even as other states and non-profits closed their parks. The result was that our forests, parks and beaches became even more of a refuge to the public, with some DCR facilities seeing upwards of a 300 percent increase in use. In order to cope with what can only be described as an onslaught, DCR developed real time communications tools to let people...