Permanent Protection of Massachusetts State-Owned Lands

Commissioner, Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation

This citizen petition is a formal comment to the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) Landscape Designations and Management Guidelines 10-Year Review. The 2012 guidelines, which designated some land as open for logging and other active management practices, did not adequately account for the global climate and biodiversity crises. DCR can help address these concerns now by making existing “Reserves” permanent and designating undeveloped “Woodlands” and Division of Water Supply Protection (DWSP) lands as Carbon and Biodiversity Reserves. This would protect intact ecosystems influenced primarily by natural processes — a level of protection that now exists for only 1% of the state’s land base.

Such a policy constitutes one of the most effective and least expensive actions that the Commonwealth can take to help address the twin threats of catastrophic climate change and ecosystem collapse. Hereby public lands would be managed to best serve the public interest.

Every signature on this petition becomes part of the public record and will be on the DCR website.

For more information contact: Save Massachusetts Forests
savemassforests@gmail.com

A project of:
RESTORE: The North Woods, P.O. Box 1099, Concord, MA 01742
http://www.savemassforests.com/
http://www.restore.org/


Sponsored by

To: Commissioner, Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation
From: [Your Name]

We, the undersigned, call for state-owned lands administered by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, including all woodlands, reserves, watersheds, and undeveloped parklands, to be designated and permanently protected as Carbon and Biodiversity Reserves. These Reserves would protect intact ecosystems, which are influenced primarily by natural processes, with only minimal human interference. Limited management activities would be allowed if proven to be necessary to protect public safety, endangered species, or the environment.