Sad state of parks

Commonwealth can't afford upkeep and properties show it, users say

By Richard C. Lewis, Globe Correspondent  |  August 10, 2006

To many people , the state parks south of Boston are an escape from it all: There are miles and miles of walking trails, paths on which to ride bicycles, ponds in which to swim or fish.

But while the parks still serve as a much-needed place of recreation, exercise, and solitude, many advocates and users are concerned that they are falling into disrepair. Some believe the parks soon may reach a point where they are so degraded that they cannot be fully restored.

``We've got great state parks. It's just that they're maintained on a shoestring, and it's gotten worse over the past 10 years," said Pete Jackson, a 55-year-old landscape architect who has walked the Blue Hills Reservation in Milton for 25 years. ``I just think there's a lack of commitment in state government for that being a priority."

Critics say that years of reduced funding to the state Department of Conservation and Recreation, which oversees the parks system, is hurting the agency's ability to maintain the preserves. While complimenting the rangers and other park help, they say the department is working with fewer staff spread too thinly to provide routine services, such as picking up litter and clearing trails.

The funding problems affect parks large and small, and include high-profile areas and even international tourist attractions. At Pilgrim Memorial State Park in Plymouth , for example, the state has not fixed the ceiling over the popular Plymouth Rock attraction since tiles fell three years ago. While netting was placed on the canopy to prevent more debris from falling, no permanent work has been done, according to Ed Mann, president of the advocacy group, Friends of the Forefathers.

``Given the fiscal priorities of recent administrations," he said, ``their promises to fix and keep it up have kind of gone down the tubes."

A House- Senate conference committee proposed $22.3 million in spending on state parks this fiscal year, which Governor Mitt Romney has trimmed to $21 million, according to the Department of Conservation and Recreation. Both figures are higher than the $19 million allocated for last fiscal year.

But a study by the Environmental League of Massachusetts showed that even the proposed levels this year are below what had been allocated in the past, such as in fiscal 2001, when state parks received $27.4 million. Another watchdog organization, the Trust for Public Land , contends the increases merely keep spending on pace with inflation, meaning funding remains essentially flat.

There's also a question of staffing. The Environmental League of Massachusetts stated that when the conservation and recreation department was formed in 2003 by the merger of the old parks management agency, the Metropolitan District Commission, and the Department of Environmental Management, staff was cut by 11 percent. Vanessa Gulati, spokeswoman for the department, contended the cuts were mostly redundant and involved administrators, not people in the field.

But advocates and longtime park users insist there are fewer personnel on site at parks. Herb Ryan, who walks daily in Borderland State Park in Easton and Sharon , said there are times when he doesn't see a ranger on the premises after the park is opened for the day.

``Under these circumstances, you can never contact an officer," said Ryan, standing near the visitor center after his morning walk. ``You'll always get the [answering] machine."

Borderland's park supervisor disputed Ryan's assertion.

But Megan Amundson, the Environmental League's legislative director, who did the analyses showing the staffing and funding losses, said, ``I do know for a fact that there are parks that do have less staff or no staff. It has happened all across the state. There has been an effect on the ground."

Ryan said sections of several trails at Borderland park have been damaged by erosion, and their condition continues to worsen after repairs are delayed or not made.

On a recent walk, he pointed to a trail just a few minutes from the visitor center. There, he noted, a creviced rut of gravel and loose dirt ran parallel to the path, carved out over time by rainwater that has washed down the slope and formed the gully.

``This is not a recoverable area," Ryan said.

Steve Olanoff, vice president of the group Friends of the Blue Hills, helped organize an effort last spring to clear a trail leading to Fox Hill at the Blue Hills Reservation in Milton . He said there's plenty more for the group to do.

``I think the rangers are so understaffed they don't even get to the reservation to know what work needs to get done, not to mention doing it," he said.

``There's a lot of good people working hard," said Jackson, who is a member of the Blue Hills volunteer group. ``But I just don't think they have the resources. They don't have the people, and they don't have the money."

Jackson illustrated the good intentions but lack of execution another way: Last year, he said, the conservation and recreation department received state funding to fix a leaking roof at the Blue Hills Trailside Museum , the interpretive center for the 7,000-acre park. But the funding went back to the state because the department failed to act before the deadline in June, he said.

There's now a tarp over part of the roof to prevent more leaking, Jackson said. ``It's just indicative of their inability to get things done."

The state agency has promoted the use of public-private partnerships to get people more involved in the parks -- an arrangement Gulati calls a ``great asset."

Some volunteer groups have enthusiastically embraced the idea.

Mann said the state matched $3,000 that his group raised privately to use at the Pilgrim Memorial. And in March, he said, the state approved a $2.1 million plan to fix the 81-foot, granite Forefathers Monument in the park.

``They're talking five to 10 years to implement everything," he said. ``At least it's on their radar screen."

But others are concerned the state agency may use the partnership to lean on volunteers more to do routine work. It's a philosophical question, some advocates say: How much should the public be asked to do for their parks?

Jackson , for one, is firm on where he stands.

``The state owns the property, and it's their responsibility to do the basic upkeep and maintenance."