Tell the Senate how important parks are to you!

URGENT ACTION NEEDED!

The proposed Senate budget cuts spending for parks and recreation; transfers operation and maintenance of Parkways to Mass Highway; threatens Community Rowing. 

Senate debate on the budget begins TODAY, May 19.

Please call your state Senator, as well as Senate President Robert Travaglini, TODAY and ask them to support increased funding for the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), stronger protection for Parkways, and support for Community Rowing.  You must call today, as early as possible, as the early floor number of many of the amendments involved mean they will come up early in the debate.

Find your Senator's phone number here.

Senator Robert Travaglini's number is: (617) 722-1500.

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

The Amendments

Have these amendment numbers handy when you call!

CRWA supports the following amendments...

Floor # 133, Clerk # 173 and Floor #135, Clerk #477 (sponsored by Senators Hart, Joyce, Morrisey, Tolman, Sprague and Tisei).  This amendment would increase funding for the Department of Urban Parks and Recreation from the proposed $18,833,715 to $19,596,478.  This department includes all of the Metropolitan Parks System.

Floor # 130, Clerk # 668 (sponsored by Senators Resor, Brewer, Creem, Creedon, Moore, Nuciforo, Tucker, Morissey, Barrios, Wilkerson, Hedlund, Joyce, Fargo, O'Leary, and Walsh).  This amendment would increase funding for the Department of State Parks and Recreation from the proposed $17,699,682 to $18,264,818.  This department includes the former DEM system.

Floor # 73, Clerk # 235 (sponsored by Senators Walsh, Resor, Creem, and Tesei).  This amendment would give DCR more control over the maintenance and operations of the parkways if they are transferred to MassHighways.

Floor # 241, Clerk # 151 (sponsored by Senator Walsh).  This amendment would prohibit commercial use or the display of signs along parkways without the approval of DCR.

Support Floor # 113, Clerk # 651, and Floor # 112, Clerk # 420 - by Senators Resor, Brewer, Creem, Creedon, Moore, Barrios, Morrissey, Wilkerson, O'Leary, Joyce, Walsh, and Tisei and Tarr and Sprague. Increases DCR administration from $3,773,905 to $5,023,416 (the House provided $3,773,905; FY04 level was $4,983,543). This amendment would increase funding for administrative costs, including Commissioner Abbott's office.

CRWA opposes the following amendment...

View the full text of the amendments here.

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.