Senate FY2026 proposed budget gets DCR above inflation

After passing Sen. Jamie Eldridge’s floor amendment adding $500,000 to the Senate Ways & Means proposed budget for the Department of Conservation and Recreation’s (DCR) Parks and Recreation Operations account (2810-0100) on a 39-0 roll call vote, the Senate wrapped up its work on the FY2026 budget last week. Mass Parks for All (MPA) asked Sen. Eldridge to offer the amendment, which garnered the support of Senate leadership and rank and file members alike. 

The Senate posted its final budget proposal online on May 29, and the end result is just what we had hoped for. But before we get to the details, a bit of background is in order. 

MPA has consistently asked for large increases in this account to make up for more than a decade of woefully inadequate funding during and after the 2008 recession. During that time, DCR lost about a third of its staff, a like portion of its budget, and accumulated a $1.0 billion deferred maintenance backlog, resulting in crumbling infrastructure, antiquated facilities, and a disillusioned public. 

Things have been on an upward trend since 2018, when we decided to focus full-time on our state parks. Overall, the Operations account has increased 196 percent between 2018 and 2025. But the increases really took off during the first two budgets from the Healey-Driscoll Administration for FY2024 and FY2025, and support from a Legislature that was all in on our state parks. From FY2023 to FY2025, the Operations account increased from $85,021,706 to $110,044,560, a 29.4 percent jump. By comparison, the entire state budget during the same period increased from $52.7 billion to $58.1 billion, or 10.3 percent. 

This year, in the face of uncertain state revenues and the turmoil in Washington, D.C. that threatens to cut tens, perhaps hundreds of millions of federal dollars coming to Massachusetts, we tempered our FY2026 request to keep the Operations account above the calendar 2024 state inflation rate of 3.0 percent. Our thinking was that any budget increase of less than 3.0 percent would be a de facto budget cut at a time when DCR has made great progress with the increased funding it has received over the last two fiscal years.

This year, for the first time since 2009, the agency has more than 1,000 full-time employees. To see what that means on the ground, take a look at DCR’s advisory web page. You will see project announcements, public meetings scheduled, and capital projects detailed. Of course, because the hole was so deep, it will take a concerted, sustained years long effort to get the agency where it should be. If you are so inclined, you can sign up to receive these notices by email at this page. Given how important our parks are to our physical and mental wellbeing, proven beyond all doubt by the pandemic, we argued that despite the fiscal uncertainty, now is not the time to put the brakes on this forward momentum. 

Adding to the urgency to support DCR now is the fact that federal cuts to National Park Service’s (NPS) Massachusetts properties threatens to put added pressure on DCR assets during the peak summer season, in particular the Boston Harbor Islands, stewardship of which DCR shares with NPS and Boston Harbor Now. At the same time, we acknowledged the reality that the large increases of recent years would not be forthcoming again this year. 

In February, the Healey-Driscoll Administration, no doubt anticipating the fiscal headwinds mentioned earlier, proposed a 2.2 percent increase in the Operations account, while the House offered a 2.5 percent increase. While both figures represent a small increase in dollars, neither would keep pace with inflation.

The Senate weighed in last week with a proposed $113,759,049 for Operations, a 3.4 percent increase. That figure includes the $500,000 floor amendment Sen. Eldridge won approval for, and $731,908 worth of amendments for other senators. This modest but important increase, if approved by the Legislature and the Governor, will nevertheless represent an important victory for our parks, the millions of visitors they see each year, the buffer they provide against climate change, and the $16 billion annual outdoor economy they support. 

Both chambers’ versions will now go to a House-Senate Conference Committee, which will bring the two documents into alignment for a vote by the full Legislature on the final budget that will then go to the Administration for consideration. MPA will express support for the Senate’s Operations account proposal and will ask you to do the same when leadership appoints the Conference Committee. We are grateful to all of you who contacted your legislators in response to our alert. Our parks need champions like you. Thank you for being one. 

DCR report details climate change and flooding risks for our historic parkways

Earlier this month, DCR released a report entitled Parkways Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment. The report gives a detailed look at how rising sea levels and the increasing frequency of severe storms will affect the 200 miles of historic parkways the agency maintains inside Route 128.

It relies heavily on 2020’s Parkways Master Plan to assess the flood vulnerability, economic, and community impacts our changing climate will have on these resources, some of which were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Charles Eliot. These giants of landscape architecture sought to give 19th century city dwellers a respite from the stress of urban living. As the first regional parkway system in the nation, some of these jewels are on the National Register of Historic Places. Currently, they collectively handle 1.8 million vehicles per day across eight watersheds covering 44 municipalities. 

As we delve into this document, we will share our thoughts on this important study with you. Meanwhile, the recent nor’easter that pummeled the coast is a stark reminder of what we are facing.  DCR had to close the flood gate between Revere and Winthrop to protect public safety and minimize property damage, temporarily inconveniencing both communities by cutting off traffic in and out of Winthrop, a tactic that worked, this time. 

Environmental Bond Bill filing delayed 

MPA, as part of the statewide Environmental Bond Bill Coalition, has learned that the Administration has delayed filing the upcoming five-year Environmental Bond Bill until sometime in June. It had been initially scheduled for filing earlier this spring.

The bond bill will map out a five-year capital spending plan for environmental infrastructure. It will give DCR a needed capital spending boost to help the agency dig out from under the $1.0 billion deferred maintenance backlog we mentioned earlier. 

This fiscal year, DCR’s annual capital budget is $152.3 million, which we maintain allows the agency to merely tread water on capital needs. MPA has long maintained that the agency needs about $250 million in annual capital spending in order to make meaningful progress on the backlog and keep pace with the inevitable capital spending that comes with maintaining buildings, pools, splash pads, skating rinks, parkways, and other infrastructure on the nearly 500,000 acres of land it stewards for us. About $400 million of the backlog is deferred maintenance on our historic parkways that, per DCR’s new report, are now also suffering from the effects of climate change. Then there are the new capital projects, such as the 104-mile Mass Central Rail Trail, which runs from Boston to Northampton. At least one tunnel and several bridges need retrofitting or replacement, and nearly 10 miles of the route is not under public control. 

We hope the Bond Bill can fill in the gaps that the annual capital budget cannot. To facilitate that outcome, MPA is planning a virtual Bond Bill Summit for our park friends and other stakeholders next month. We hope to activate an army of advocates to make sure DCR gets a fair share of the bond bill. We anticipate the bond bill’s final approval will happen next year. Watch this space and our emails for more details as they become available.

Doug Pizzi is executive director of Mass Parks for All