Creating opportunity from hardship

Nothing drives home the point that we need more legislative support for the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) like the 10 percent operations cut and the 5.9 percent seasonal employee cut, adjusted for inflation, the agency suffered in its FY2027 budget. 

While we are thankful for the legislative heroes we have in both chambers, a viable Legislative Parks Caucus could help end once and for all the one step forward two steps backwards budgets that hurt the agency for about a decade during and after the 2008 recession. After four years of reasonable budget increases from FY2023 to FY2026, this year marked a return to the bad old days during which DCR lost a third of its staff, a third of its budget, and amassed a $1.0 billion deferred maintenance backlog. It took the shock of a pandemic, during which everyone got religion on parks, to begin to reverse that trend, the key word being begin.   

On the positive side, while neither branch touched the seasonal employee cut, the Senate added $1.0 million to the operations account proposal the Healey-Driscoll Administration submitted in February. The House concurred during the budget conference committee negotiations. A million dollars is real money, but a 10 percent cut instead of an 11 percent cut is nothing to brag about.  

In the end, the FY2027 budget continues to shortchange our state parks, the 26.2 million visitors they receive each year, our $14.6 billion annual outdoor economy, and the 108,000 jobs it supports. It would have taken $15 million to keep DCR a half-percent above inflation with the 3.5 percent increase we helped win in FY2026, and $9 million to level fund DCR, a de facto three percent cut. But these options, both of which we suggested, proved a bridge too far in a $64 billion state budget that cut all environmental spending by about four percent while the overall budget went up by four percent. 

One tool we could use to forever reverse this destructive yo-yo budget process is a legislative caucus tasked with supporting DCR and the half-million acres it manages in our name. There are currently two open space related caucuses in the State House, the Legislative Parks Caucus and the Legislative Trails Caucus. Neither caucus has been active in many years.  

Come January, the Parks Caucus Senate chair will be vacant due to the departure of Sen. Mike Rush, who lost the Democratic primary in the Norfolk and Suffolk District. We wish Sen. Rush well as the caucus baton is passed to someone else. We hope the opportunity to name a new Senate Parks Caucus chair will lead to the broader discussion of the positive role legislative caucuses can play in support of our parks and trails. 

Adding fuel to the fire for such a discussion, Question 6 will appear on the November election ballot. It seeks to create a dedicated Nature for All Fund by diverting existing sales tax on sporting goods, recreational vehicles and golf courses to protect, improve, and expand public land and water resources. Next, the new environmental bond bill, the Mass Ready Act, is currently being finalized by a House-Senate Conference Committee and will hopefully pass before year’s end. It’s a five-year capital spending blueprint that informs the annual capital budget for environmental agencies like DCR.  

A large, vocal, active legislative caucus, for parks, for trails, or combining the two into one Legislative Open Space Caucus, could help generate that support in the Legislature and in successive gubernatorial administrations.

In 2022, several park friends groups and watershed associations that had been meeting in advance of 2021’s Special Legislative Commission on DCR report turned their attention to the Parks Caucus. In December of that year, the caucus met virtually for the first time in what all agreed was a long time. The meeting was well attended by legislators and advocates. However, plans to generate increased interest in membership among lawmakers and advocates to develop a framework for continuing action never materialized. 

Four years later, it is clear that an active caucus organized around our public lands is sorely needed. In the coming months we hope to engage legislators and advocates to start this process. 

Stewardship Council Stakeholders Committee Listening Session

On Tuesday, October 27th, the DCR Stewardship Council Stakeholders Committee will conduct a listening session for groups and individuals interested in how the Stewardship Council and DCR interact with partners like park friends groups and other open space advocates. 

The online event will take place from 6:30 - 8 p.m. and pre-registration is required to attend. Mass Parks for All is co-sponsoring this event.

When participants log on they will have the opportunity to fill out a few poll questions before the session begins. Please take a few minutes to answer these questions, which provide helpful data to DCR and the Stewardship Council. That will be followed by an introduction of the committee and participating DCR staff, and a presentation detailing how the Council interacts with DCR, and in turn with DCR stakeholders. The session will then open up to attendees to ask questions via a moderator. 

Ultimately, the goal is for participants to have a better understanding of the working relationship between the Council and DCR, and provide feedback on how the Stakeholder Committee can best support partners and stakeholders

We hope you can take the time to attend this free event and contribute to our shared goals of supporting our state parks, forests, beaches, and the nearly half-million acres of public land DCR manages on our behalf. 

Yes on 6 Campaign in High Gear

The campaign to approve Question 6 on the November 3 ballot, An Act to Protect Water and Nature, has entered the final phase. If approved, Q6 would divert the existing sales tax on sporting goods, recreational vehicles, and golf courses into a dedicated fund to be used to conserve open space and protect water resources. 

MPA is part of a coalition of more than 120 organizations across the state supporting Question 6. If Q6 passes, DCR would gain access to a reliable revenue stream to protect, improve, and expand park, forest, and watershed land, as well as trail networks. This includes purchasing land or purchasing conservation restrictions on land.

You can watch a short webinar that gives more detailed information about the ballot measure and how it would work if approved. There is a new 30-second ad in support of Q6 as well. 

If you support Q6 - we hope you do - and want to get more involved, you can sign up for phone bank sessions as well. 

If you applied for a mail-in ballot, they have arrived or are on the way. Early in-person voting starts on October 17th and runs through the 30th. Contact your local municipality for more information about your community. However you cast your ballot, please vote Yes Question 6 on Nov. 3. The park you save may be your own.

Doug Pizzi is executive director of Mass Parks for All