CARE ABOUT YOUR STATE PARKS? GO TO THE EOEEA FY 2011 BUDGET HEARING THIS MONDAY

Do you care about basic services in your DCR parks in Boston? Go to the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs' FY 2011’s budget hearing with Secretary Ian Bowles on Monday, November 23, 2009, from 3:30 to 5:00 pm at 100 Cambridge Street, 2nd floor, Conference Room B. Submit written comments prior to the hearing, or up until November 30, 2009. Bring a picture I.D. for security.

Over 2,500 acres of the parks in Boston are owned and managed by MA DCR. That is over one half of the city’s parks including the Southwest Corridor Parkland, Castle Island, the South Boston, Dorchester and East Boston Beaches, the Esplanade and so much more. The Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) is in the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. In FY09, the DCR statewide budget was $102million; this year (FY10) it is 78 million, a 23% cut! Additional mid year cuts are coming. In FY 11, DCR is proposing to cut another 10-15% more.

Boston residents who use and care for their DCR parks must let their elected officials know that the levels of services in our state parks and open spaces must not fall to unacceptable levels. The budget of the Environmental Secretariat is only 0.8% of the entire state budget, and Department of Conservation’s budget is 39% of EEA’s budget. Cuts to DCR have very little to do with solving the state’s overall budget crisis, but will have tremendous impacts for urban residents who depend on the parks to be clean, safe and accessible. If the basic level of services delivered falls, there will be serious impacts to the quality of life in urban neighborhoods.

Let Secretary Bowles know how important your urban state parks are to you, and tell him what worries you most about the proposed additional cuts.