Colleagues,

In recent weeks ELM and partner organizations have met with dozens of legislators to raise awareness about the priority line-items in the Green Budget and, in particular, to urge legislators to prioritize increased funding for DCR. In order to make the message more effective, the legislators need to hear from (lots of) their constituents.

Below is an action alert which we encourage you to email to your members/email lists. Please omit legislators from your action alert. We would like to time this so that legislators get a lot of calls next week, so it’s concentrated and timely. Toward that end, it would be great if you could email the alert on the afternoon Monday 3/17. ELM will do the same. You can simply copy and paste the below message into an email to your list. By using the exact hyperlinks I’ve provided, I’ll be able to see how many clicks each of these links gets, so we can have a sense of how many people may be taking action.

Please contact me with questions or suggestions regarding Green Budget advocacy.

Thank you,
Erica Mattison, MPA, JD
Legislative Director
Environmental League of MA
emattison@environmentalleague.org
617-742-2553
http://environmentalleague.org/
Like us: https://www.facebook.com/EnvironmentalLeagueOfMassachusetts

Our Parks Can't Speak Up...but we can!
And with your help, our voice will be heard.

It's that time of year again when the MA Legislature crafts the state budget. This year we are calling attention to the needs of the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR).

According to the Green Budget for Fiscal Year 2015 released last month by the Environmental League of MA, DCR's budget has been cut by approximately 20% since 2008. These deep budget cuts have led to park closures, unstaffed campgrounds and unmaintained facilities.

We are urging the Legislature to provide DCR with adequate funding for its day-to-day operations and seasonal staffing so Massachusetts residents and visitors can enjoy our special outdoor spaces.

We need your help to make this issue a high priority at the State House. Please call your State Representative and State Senator this week to ask them to support increased funding for DCR parks in the FY15 budget. Tell them about your favorite state park or how you've seen the budget cuts impact these cherished places. Listing of state parks

Don't know who your state legislators are? Look them up here.

Thank you for joining us in this campaign to support our state parks!