DCR Map of Land Designations: Please Attend Meetings!
Published on Monday, May 23, 2011 in General Announcements, Legislative Affairs, News & Updates
Tags: access, DCR, environment, opinion, press release, public lands

DCR Releases Draft Map In Anticipation Of Its Second Workshop Series On Landscape Designations For State Properties

SAM members are encouraged to attend these very important meetings that will outline public land use and recreation, such as snowmobiling. Meeting dates in bold take place in areas where SAM trails or clubs are located. Please attend! DCR press release below.

As part of its upcoming series of public workshops to discuss proposed landscape designations on state properties, the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) is releasing the following draft map. DCR is holding a series of seven regional workshops across the Commonwealth this spring to seek public input on the application of landscape designations for DCR properties.

DCR is holding the workshops around the state to share draft maps, such as the one released today, showing the designations that have been applied to all properties and discuss them with the public. The regional workshops will be held in the following communities:

• Tuesday, May 24, Essex Agricultural & Technical High School, 562 Maple St, Danvers. 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
• Wednesday, May 25, Elm Bank Reservation, Washington St, Wellesley. 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
• Thursday, May 26, Berkshire Athenaeum, 1 Wendell Ave, Pittsfield. 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
• Thursday, June 2, Frontier Regional High School, 113 North Main St, South Deerfield. 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
• Monday, June 6, North Middle School, 350 Southampton Rd., Westfield, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
• Tuesday, June 7, Bristol County Agricultural High School, 135 Center St, Dighton, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
• Monday, June 13, The Trustees of the Reservation’s Doyle Conservation Center, 464 Abbot Ave, Leominster. 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Further information about the Forest Futures Visioning Process, the draft Landscape Designation selection criteria and management guidelines, and the fall 2010 series of Landscape Designation public workshops is available on DCR’s website, www.mass.gov/dcr.

At each workshop, DCR staff will provide the statewide context for the draft designations, but the discussion will be focused on park land in that particular region of the Commonwealth. The workshops are public and therefore open to anyone interested in the future management of DCR park land. The designations will be finalized by fall 2011.

The landscape designation process involves categorizing 308,000 acres of DCR lands as either “parklands,” “reserves,” or “woodlands” to prioritize the services and values these lands provide to the public and the environment. The designations are a top recommendation of the Forest Futures Visioning process that the agency undertook in 2009-2010 to develop a renewed vision and long-term strategy for managing forest lands in the state park system.

Of the three new categories, “parklands” would be managed primarily for recreation, human experiences, and the protection of cultural and natural features. “Reserves” would be managed primarily for biological diversity based on natural processes and the protection of large, contiguous blocks of high-value ecosystems. “Woodlands” would be managed primarily for state-of-the-art sustainable forestry, forest products, and active carbon management.
The upcoming workshops will build upon the first round of workshops held last fall that elicited public input on the draft selection criteria and management guidelines for the three designations.

Previously posted information about the Landscape Designations has been posted at sledmass.com:
11/07/10 Please Attend DCR’s Forest Futures Visioning Meetings
12/12/10 DCR Parks & Forests: Selection Criteria and Management Guidelines
01/18/11 DCR’s Forest Plan: Get Involved
02/24/11 DCR Posts Public Comments