As the new home of MASSPIRG's environmental work, Environment Massachusetts can be contacted regarding this op-ed.
Massachusetts
' character comes from the state's classic New England landscape - from
the sweeping hills of the Berkshires to the pine forests and sandy
beaches of Cape Cod. In a sense, this landscape defines Massachusetts.
As home to the nation's first public park, Massachusetts has a long
legacy of public land preservation. Unfortunately, many of our
treasured places are endangered - symbols of a system in decline.
Included in the commonwealth's beautiful landscape is almost a half a
million acres of public land, encompassing hundreds of public forests,
parks and reservations. Here in the Valley, we enjoy public treasures
from the shores of the Connecticut River Greenway in Northampton and
the diverse forests of the Mt. Holyoke Range in Amherst to the fields
of flowering mountain laurel at J.P. Skinner State Park in Hadley.
These jewels and others in the Massachusetts State Forests and Parks
system support dozens of rare species and critical natural communities
boast champion tree sites and exemplary old growth - forests
undisturbed for centuries. Our public parks and forests annually
attract more than 30 million visitors who walk, play, camp, bike, hike
and otherwise enjoy these natural resources.
Despite the critical importance of state lands to Massachusetts, our
forests and parks system is in crisis. A 1994 report commissioned by
the state Legislature found the system overburdened, sparsely staffed
and poorly maintained. Twelve years later, our state forest and parks
system is struggling more than ever. Since 2001, the budget for the
system has declined approximately 30 percent. Full-time staff have been
cut by 20 percent since 2000. Once a leader, Massachusetts currently
ranks 48th out of the 50 states in per capita spending on parks and
recreation.
Unfortunately, local favorites are not immune to the funding cuts. A
visit to the scenic peak of Mt. Tom requires a bumpy ride on a
deteriorating road marked ''use at your own risk.'' Further north, Mt.
Sugarloaf is plagued by poorly maintained trails, often overgrown and
littered with glass. With insufficient funding, treasures and
recreational havens like Mt. Tom and Mt. Sugarloaf are poorly
maintained, inadequately patrolled and left to deteriorate.
These are just a few examples. From littered trails to decaying
bathrooms, this degradation jeopardizes these critical places and
cannot continue. More than a century after Massachusetts established
the first regional park system, we have fallen from leader to last. Our
elected officials must follow these ''trail markers'' to ensure that
Massachusetts leads again:
First, they must restore funding for our forests and parks system. An
additional $10 million per year over the next four years would get us
headed in the right direction. This is less than $1.60 per person and a
small price to pay to preserve our parks, playgrounds and forests for
our kids and their kids.
Second, they must promote better management and planning. Our system
currently lacks long-term planning and stewardship. Without this,
ad-hoc decisions are made under the radar or at the behest of
commercial interests that compromise preservation and belie public
trust.
Third, the state must re-insert citizen participation into the process.
In the late 1990s, the Legislature dissolved the Citizen Advisory
Committees, organized around properties or clusters of properties.
These committees offer input on management, help with maintenance and
provide a crucial public forum to share information and build consensus
with local community members.
Recent debates over cutting plans at Robinson State Park in Agawam and
October Mountain in Becket highlight shortcomings in planning and
citizen involvement. Local residents were unaware of the state's plans
to thin the forest and are now at odds with state officials about the
cutting plans and the existence of rare plant and tree species in some
of our most cherished woodlands.
Charles Eliot, a 19th-century advocate for green spaces, explained that
for people to be healthy and happy, they ''must have space for air, for
light, for exercise, for rest and for the enjoyment of that peaceful
beauty of nature, which because it is the opposite of the noisy
ugliness of towns, is so wonderfully refreshing to the tired souls of
townspeople.'' These public places were set aside to protect and
preserve our heritage and natural treasures for future generations to
enjoy. We cannot continue turning our back on our legacy.
Jen Baker is an environmental advocate for the Massachusetts Public
Interest Research Group (MassPIRG), an environmental and consumer
protection advocacy group.
