For Immediate Release: December 14, 2006

Contact: Vanessa Gulati: 617-626-1119

MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION AND RECREATION

RELEASES FISCAL YEAR 2006 ANNUAL REPORT

Today, the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) released their Fiscal Year 2006 Annual Report. Entitled Toward World Class Parks and Conservation: Strengthening Connections between People and the Environment, the report outlines the goals, activities, and accomplishments, as well as the revenue and expenditure record for the agency, over the past fiscal year.

DCR’s Fiscal Year 2006 Annual Report outlines activities undertaken by the agency in four key areas: improving outdoor recreational opportunities and natural resource conservation; restoring and improving DCR facilities; expanding public involvement in carrying out DCR’s mission; and, establishing first-rate management systems and practices.

“The common theme in everything DCR does is the link between people and the outdoors, whether it’s a swimming pool in a city neighborhood, an old-growth forest in the Berkshires, or a beach, rail trail, or campground anywhere in Massachusetts. This report details DCR’s progress over the past year toward providing world-class parks and recreational facilities and world-class stewardship of the Commonwealth’s diverse natural and cultural resources, while strengthening the many ties between people and the environment,” said DCR Commissioner Stephen H. Burrington. “The many accomplishments are a testament to the hard work of DCR’s dedicated staff, as well as the commitment and support of our many public and private partners.”

DCR was created through the merger of the functions of the former Metropolitan District Commission and the former Department of Environmental Management, approximately two and one-half years ago. The unified agency carries a broad mandate, covering the protection and promotion of natural, cultural, and recreational resources, managing the system of state forests, parks, reservations, beaches and swimming pools, and urban parkways, and bearing functional responsibility for flood control and dam safety, watershed planning and management, public and private forest management, fire detection and suppression, as well as land and historic resources protection.

The DCR Fiscal Year 2006 Annual Report can be viewed at http://www.mass.gov/dcr/, and copies can be obtained by calling 617-626-1250.

###