Call to Action! HELP SAVE OUR PARKLANDS! 

STOP THE BUDGET CUTS!

Advocacy campaign dates: April 29, 2004-May 10, 2004

The Massachusetts House of Representatives has proposed a budget that slashes funding for parks and recreation yet again.  Our parks, pools, beaches, rinks, forests, and watershed management areas need your help!  The House's proposed budget cuts will result in rink and pool closures, less maintenance, fewer staff in the parks, closed campgrounds, no summer educational programs... The list goes on.

PLEASE CONTACT YOUR STATE SENATOR AND ASK THAT THEY SUPPORT A MINIMUM PARK AND RECREATION BUDGET TO $80 MILLION, the amount necessary to maintain operations at the current level.   (If you don't know who your senator is, click here).   

Calls to Representatives are no longer needed.  The House finalized its budget this week; we will have analysis of their completed budget available next week.

Our Senators need to know that people care about parks and recreational facilities.  Your phone calls do make a difference!  

Background and Talking Points:

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Last year the legislature combined the Metropolitan District Commission (MDC) and the Department of Environmental Management (DEM) into a new Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR). Within DCR there is a Division of State Parks, a Division of Urban Parks, and a Division of Water Supply Protection.

Four years ago, the combined budget for the MDC and DEM was $106.8 million.  This year, the House proposed a budget for DCR of only $67.2 million. 

Whatever the new efficiencies hoped for from the merger of the two agencies, this 37% cut is simply too harsh, and will inhibit the new DCR Commissioner's ability to develop a world-class park system.  

The new DCR is responsible for managing 450,000 acres of state forests, parks, and watershed lands, with thousands of miles of trails as well as hundreds of recreation facilities including campgrounds, swimming beaches, rinks, pools, and playgrounds.  DCR must ensure park safety, provide programs and manage a vast array of natural and cultural resources. Budgets have been inadequate for decades, with deferred maintenance accumulating to unacceptable levels. 

Further cuts will decimate the ability to provide even minimal levels of service and management.

Our parks are used by a broad range of residents, many of whom have no other place to turn for their recreational needs.  They also are vital to the state's tourism economy.  Let your Senator and Representative know how you feel!

Once you've called your state senator, please tell us so we can keep track of how many were contacted! 

Letter to the Editor  

State parks more than 'amenities'

Friday, April 30, 2004

IN THE editorial "Scrounging for the state" (April 26), the state park system is characterized as "an important amenity." It is important that public parks and open space systems not be considered amenities but recognized as critical public facilities that contribute to the health and welfare of our citizens and communities.

Parks contribute to healthful exercise in a time of an increasing obesity crisis. They contribute to clean air and water and to biological diversity. Playgrounds foster the physical, social, and emotional development of our children. Parks and open spaces provide constructive outlets for our energies and decompression from life's stresses, thereby reducing social disorders and crime.

For too long characterization of parks as amenities has meant that they have been among the first targets of budget reductions. Only by understanding the broader values of parks and the importance these spaces have for our communities can they compete for the scarce public dollars that are important to their vitality.

PETER F. JACKSON
Milton

© Copyright 2004 Globe Newspaper Company.