DEHC’s Green Space Campaign Team is organizing visits with elected officials (including a meeting set for Senator Jack Hart’s office on Monday April 26, 11 AM, Room 109C at the State House – join us if you can!) to let them know that proposed massive cuts to the MA Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) budget will have a huge impact on our local parks’ already too-low level of maintenance. Some facts -

• About half of the public parkland in Boston is owned and managed by the City of Boston, and the other half is owned and managed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
• The state agency responsible for parks is the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR). The city parks agency is the Boston Parks and Recreation Department (BPRD).
• In FY07, the operating budget for BPRD parks in Boston was $15.4 million, while the DCR operation budget for Boston parks was $10.4 million. City funding for parks has remained relatively level since then, while state funding for parks has been decimated.

On January 28, 2010, the Governor released his budget for FY11 and it contains devastating cuts for state parks under the care and control of DCR, including many in Boston and Dorchester.
Here are some critical figures on parks in this year’s state budget:
A. In the Governor’s budget, DCR is facing a proposed 13% cut to its operating budget, on top of a 23% cut last year!
B. Since FY09, DCR has lost 170 positions, or 18% of its staff.
C. The Governor’s budget proposes a 4% increase in the overall state budget. Yet, the Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) budget, just 0.7 % of the entire state budget, is slated for a 6% cut.
D. On top of this year’s cuts, what more is whittled away? Administration: $470,000; Beach preservation: $500,000; State and urban parks: $3.3 million (7.4%); Parkways snow and ice account more than $2.5 million.
Check out the Boston Park Advocates website for more information.

DCR properties in Dorchester and Mattapan include:  Malibu Beach,  Savin Hill Beach, and Tenean Beach,  McMorrow Field/Playground (Victory Road next to the Murphy School),  Meaney Playground (Pond Street & East Cottage Street),  Toohig Playground (between Gallivan and Minot Street),  Victory Road Park (next to the Gas Tank),  the Ventura Street Playground,  Devine Rink on Morrissey Boulevard,  the Neponset River Reservation/Greenway, Neponset II and Pope John Paul II Parks, and Ryan Playground on River Street.

DEHC is also urging our local elected officials to champion an updated Bottle Bill to include “new age” drinks such as non-carbonated beverages, water, iced tea, juice, and sports drinks. An expanded Bottle Bill will help keep our parks and other outdoor green spaces cleaner.
Our contingent will include representatives from the Franklin Park Coalition and Boston Park Advocates.

Please get in touch via email, or call 617-474-1478, or sign up for notices via our listserve if you would like to be part of this effort.

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