CRWA in the News

State parks take a hit 

By Jon Brodkin

Daily News Tribune

September 12, 2005

State parks have suffered from severe budget cuts in the past few years, but the new commissioner of the Department of Conservation and Recreation says he is confident he can persuade lawmakers to give the agency the money it needs.

Stephen Burrington, appointed by Gov. Mitt Romney on Sept. 1, said the agency has suffered from "primitive management" and been unable to gather basic information about the parks' structural deficiencies.

He said that is why lawmakers haven't given the agency and its parks more money.

"Right now, the Legislature hasn't been in a position to provide the resources DCR needs, because DCR wasn't in a position to tell the Legislature the extent of the problems," Burrington said.

The agency has estimated a backlog in maintenance and repair needs approaching $1 billion, but Burrington said that was a "pretty rough" estimate.

Many local parks and the Charles River have suffered from the DCR's funding problems and unresolved debates over how best to control invasive weeds.

The agency was nearly sued for discharging polluted stormwater into the Charles River and other water bodies, before a recent agreement headed off litigation.

Meanwhile, a boat patrol was cut at Cochituate State Park in Natick, while the invasive weed milfoil spread through much of Lake Cochituate. Staff cuts have forced beaches and pools to close early, and the state has lessened efforts to maintain trails and prevent or clean up illegal dumping at Callahan State Park in Framingham and other lands.

The parks operating budget was cut by $8 million over four years, hitting a low of $17.7 million in fiscal 2005, according to the Environmental League of Massachusetts. The budget has since been raised to $19.1 million.

Overall funding for the Department of Conservation and Recreation -- which was formed two years ago by a merger of the Department of Environmental Management and Metropolitan District Commission -- dropped from $113 million in 2001 to $71 million in fiscal 2005, according to the Environmental League. The budget was raised to $82.7 million July 1.

"There are all kinds of operational issues, buildings falling apart," said Bob Zimmerman, executive director of the Charles River Watershed Association.

Some parks are open only nominally and lack park rangers and staff to answer questions and deal with safety problems, said Jim Gomes, president of the Environmental League.

The new state budget does include money to keep beaches and pools open the whole summer. That should benefit places like Ashland State Park, which has suffered from a shortage of lifeguards.

Both Zimmerman and Gomes said they are excited about the appointment of Burrington, who was vice president and general counsel for the Conservation Law Foundation before joining the Romney administration in the Commonwealth Development office a few years ago.

"He's a terrific environmentalist, a really smart guy and a tremendous litigator," Zimmerman said.

Burrington will be responsible for holding up the DCR's end of an agreement that should bring the department into compliance with the Clean Water Act by controlling stormwater discharges into rivers, lakes and streams.

"My general take is that polluted stormwater runoff is the number one water pollution challenge in Eastern Massachusetts," Burrington said. "It's now my job to make sure we do an A-plus job of honoring those commitments."

He'll also have to deal with Lake Cochituate and other water bodies that have struggled with invasive weeds amid debate over whether herbicides should be used to kill them.

The state's plan to use herbicides in Cochituate has been held up by legal challenges. A. Richard Miller, a member of the Cochituate State Park Advisory Committee, said the state failed to have an adequate backup plan to control the weeds in the absence of herbicides.

"They've blown it so severely for this lake," Miller said. "Meanwhile we're a showcase for how to do it wrong, and there are a lot of other lakes and ponds around that aren't as down the tubes as we are."

Miller contends that health questions about herbicides should prevent them from being used, especially in lakes that provide drinking water.

"These chemicals should not be considered innocent until proven guilty," he said.

Burrington said deciding "how best to use herbicides is an ongoing process," but doesn't sound likely to make significant changes to the agency's policy on the chemicals.

Once milfoil has spread to a certain point, he said, "There really is not a backup plan. You could not have a backup plan that did not involve any herbicides."

He also defended their safety, saying, "There are a couple of minimally toxic herbicides that have been found by the most scrupulous conservation organizations to be necessary to eliminate (the invasive plant) phragmites."

At Callahan State Park, the problems are directly related to staff cuts.

"Because of the budget cuts we have inadequate staff to properly maintain and supervise the numerous properties that we have," said Joel Feingold of Friends of Callahan State Park. "It would be helpful to have a ranger present to encourage people to pick up the litter."

But Feingold said his first priority would be preserving more land rather than better maintaining the current parks.

"I don't want Callahan improved at all," he said. "I want more land added to it."

Burrington said he would focus on buying development rights and conservation restrictions to influence how land is used, rather than buying land itself, since state ownership would take properties off tax rolls.

"Our acquisitions have to be very, very carefully targeted," Burrington said. "We need to identify the trail corridors where there are gaps. We need to identify the spots within or adjacent to our existing parks."

(Jon Brodkin can be reached at 508-626-4424 or jbrodkin@cnc.com.)

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