Conservation

How You Can Get Involved-

Websites to visit to learn more about conservation issues or get involved
outdoors.org or outdoors.org/conservation
AMC’s web site – Just click on CAN to join the Conservation Action Network. You can receive monthly updates and periodic action alerts listing the various ways to take action on many conservation issues.
grist.org – Sign up to receive free emails containing environmental news & commentary in a humorous format.
(one of my personal favorites!)
lnt.org – Leave No Trace – AMC is a partner of Leave No Trace. The Leave No Trace program mission is to promote and inspire responsible outdoor recreation through education, research, and partnerships.
umass.edu/tei/mwwp - Get involved with volunteer water quality monitoring programs in Mass.
gardensalive.com – For green gardeners, a place to get environmentally responsible products for your garden.
mass.gov/agr/massgrown - Lists local farmers and websites giving information about where to buy locally grown products and crops.

Contact your legislators
congress.org – Find out about local representatives and conservation issues going on in your state.
senate.gov and house.gov – Find contact information and web sites for your senators and reps. Also find information on bills and their current status.

Massachusetts Forests and Parks in Crisis

Although Massachusetts is the sixth smallest state in the nation, it has the ninth largest forest and park system in the country, making the state an especially attractive place to live. More than 12 million visitors a year seek out Massachusetts' forests and parks to bring mental and physical health to their lives — enjoying swimming holes and fishing streams, sunsets and wildflowers, quiet hikes, and peaceful bird-watching.

Lack of funding and a decreasing number of staff working to accommodate an increasing number of visitors have placed Massachusetts forests and parks in jeopardy. Specifically:

• Chronic misuse of parks and damage to natural resources are occurring as a result of inadequate staffing.
  
  
• Deteriorating facilities, owing to a $100 million backlog in routine maintenance and infrastructure improvements, potentially jeopardize public health and safety.
  
  
• Shrinking visitor services (parks closing earlier in the year, school programs being cut, fewer lifeguards on duty) have resulted from an 11 percent cut in the Department of Environmental Management's budget from 2001 to 2002.

Read about the deteriorating condition of Massachusetts' forests and parks and what can be done in a new report, "Our Forests and Parks in Crisis," authored by the AMC and the Massachusetts Forests and Parks Partnership and available for downloading in PDF format. (If you do not have an updated version of Adobe Acrobat software, download it now.)