Preserving Massachusetts News

Governor Patrick failed to deliver on his promise to stand up for our state forests and parks today when he released his FY08 budget recommendations.  We are disappointed that Governor Patrick neglected to include an additional $10 million for our state forests and parks system, a promise he made during his campaign last fall.  While turning our forests and parks around will take long term investment and stewardship, Gov. Patrick missed a critical first step today.  

As home to the first public park in the nation, Massachusetts has a long legacy of preservation.  Unfortunately, this legacy, like our state forests and parks, is deteriorating.  Many of our public treasures are suffering from chronic neglect, mismanagement and understaffing that in some cases have led to visible decay, safety issues and environmental damage.  Our state forests and parks system currently has a deferred maintenance backlog of approximately $1.7 billion.

In our efforts to keep people here for generations and attract new residents and business to the Commonwealth, we cannot ignore the natural and recreational resources in our backyards as part of the solution. Our state forests and parks not only support dozens of rare species, natural communities, old growth forests and champion tree sites, but also contribute significantly to quality of life and economic prosperity in the Commonwealth.   

According to the State Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, close to half of the $21 billion per year that tourism pumps into our economy is “directly attributable” to outdoor recreational activities.[1]  People value recreational opportunities and open space and consider access to natural and recreational resources when choosing where to live.   A study in 2003 conducted for the Boston Foundation and the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce found that access to outdoor activities is the second most important factor in decisions by recent college graduates on whether to stay in the area, second only to job availability.[2] 

By ignoring our forests, parks and beaches, we turn our backs on our legacy of leadership, our heritage and our culture.  We hope the Legislature, led by the Legislative Parks Caucus, will deliver the additional resources our public treasures need and deserve. 

Environment Massachusetts is the new home of MASSPIRG’s environmental work.