The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (MA-DCR) confronts increasingly daunting challenges in the face of stagnant (or declining) funding levels appropriated by the state legislature for management of thousands of acres of state forests and parks. Similarly, the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MA-DFW) is struggling to make the funds it receives from the sale of hunting and
fishing licenses (coupled with federal grants) fully address the needs of the wildlife management areas it administers. As a result, properties managed by the MA-DCR and MA-DFW fall far short of meeting their full value potential and overall visitor experiences at these properties are undermined by scaled back visitor center operations, closure of campgrounds and other facilities, severe maintenance backlogs that obstruct or impede public access to critical roads and trails, inadequate invasive species controls, a dearth of active land management that is needed to create and maintain wildlife habitat, and limited and/or outdated educational products and programming. Similarly, declining government funding causes MA-DCR and MA-DFW to postpone important new construction and major renovation projects that would substantially improve public use and enjoyment of state forests, parks and wildlife management areas. In addition to the direct effects that state funding shortfalls at these properties have on the quality of visitor experiences, there are broader negative economic and cultural implications for the region’s communities in the form of reduced tourism- and recreation-related revenue generation, and a growing psychological gap between human society and the natural world that contributes to environmental illiteracy and undermines our cultural heritage. Additionally, pervasive public misperceptions regarding the ecological importance and benefits of active land management practices (i.e., timber harvesting, prescribed burns, integrated pest management, etc.) have resulted in declining populations of many wildlife species and overall biodiversity in the western portion of the Commonwealth. With these problems in mind, the Corporation is organized for the following broad purposes: to help conserve the natural, scenic and historical resources of state forests, parks and wildlife management areas managed by the MA-DCR and MA-DFW in the western portion of the Commonwealth (Berkshire, Franklin, Hampshire and Hampden counties); to build public support for expanded use of active, scientifically-based, land management practices on state forests, parks and wildlife management areas managed by the MA-DCR and MA-DFW in the western portion of the Commonwealth; to serve as a regional-scale “friends group” for the MA-DCR and MA-DFW; to enhance the extent and efficacy of interagency cooperation between the MA-DCR and MA-DFW; to foster public use and enjoyment of MA-DCR and MA-DFW properties in a manner consistent with the protection and preservation of the environment; to engage in such educational, scientific and charitable activities as will assist the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the operation of MA-DCR and MA-DFW properties; and to assist and work in cooperation with the appropriate agency personnel in general support and enrichment of MA-DCR and MA-DFW properties.
