Matthew A. Beaton, the Massachusetts Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EOEA), snowmobiles with key members of the Snowmobile Association of Massachusetts and the Harvard Snowmobile Club.
Tony Shaw, a SAM Board of Director and President of the Harvard Snowmobile Club, along with other members of the club, hosted an afternoon ride that explored the great trails in the town of Harvard.
The Harvard Snowmobile Club has more than 27 miles of snowmobile trails that is a result of both public and private collaboration. The ride crossed property owned by the town of Harvard, conservation lands, including property owned by private landowners and the Fruitland’s museum. This type of connectivity is duplicated across the Commonwealth with more than 2,100 miles of snowmobile trails managed by the volunteers of Snowmobile Association of Massachusetts.
Mother Nature is supporting the national Take a Friend Snowmobiling Campaign with record snowfall throughout Massachusetts. The national campaign, which began five years ago, is a great opportunity to introduce non-snowmobilers to our winter activity of choice. It is also a great opportunity to share the experience with state and town officials.
The ride brought awareness to the great snowmobile trails throughout Massachusetts that residents who travel north to Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine are unaware of.
Secretary Matthew A. Beaton oversees the Commonwealth’s six environmental, natural resource and energy regulatory agencies: the Departments of Environmental Protection, Public Utilities, Energy Resources, Conservation & Recreation, Agricultural Resources and Fish & Game. He also serves as Chairman of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, the Energy Facilities Siting Board, and the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center.
Prior to his appointment to the cabinet post at Energy and Environmental Affairs, Secretary Beaton served as a State Representative for the Eleventh Worcester district. Elected in 2011, he was a member of the committees on Ways and Means; Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture; and Ethics.
In the private sector, Secretary Beaton has worked as an environmental engineer and sustainability consultant. He is the former owner of Beaton Kane Construction, a green building and energy efficiency consulting company that focuses on building energy efficient homes.
Beaton earned an undergraduate degree in biotechnology from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and a master’s degree in energy and environmental analysis from Boston University. Secretary Beaton and his wife, Laura, live in Shrewsbury with their two young children.
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