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The Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) is a state agency of the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts Massachusetts ( Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' E ...
, situated in the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. It is best known for its
park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are green spaces set aside for recreation inside towns and cities. ...
s and
parkway A parkway is a landscaped thoroughfare.''"parkway."''Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged. Merriam-Webster, 2002. http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com (14 Apr. 2007). The term is particularly used for a roadway in a park or ...
s. The DCR's mission is "To protect, promote and enhance our common wealth of natural, cultural and recreational resources for the well-being of all." The agency is the largest landowner in Massachusetts.


History and structure

The Department of Conservation and Recreation was formed in 2003 under Governor
Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American politician, businessman, and lawyer serving as the junior United States senator from Utah since January 2019, succeeding Orrin Hatch. He served as the 70th governor of Massachusetts ...
, when the former Metropolitan District Commission (MDC) and Department of Environmental Management (DEM) were merged to form the DCR. The DCR is under the general management of the Commissioner of the DCR. The general administration divisions; Human Resources Division, the Financial Division, and External and Legislative Affairs, report directly to the Commissioner. DCR is responsible for the stewardship of its lands, from general maintenance—such as emptying trash barrels, cutting grass, and making building improvements—to landscape-level management. DCR also provides services beyond its boundaries, for example, Bureau of Forest Fire Control is available to aid and assist local cities and towns during natural disasters as well as periods of high fire danger, while its Bureau of Forestry administers forest management on both state and private lands. It also manages its land through the help of partners, including road repairs occasionally implemented by the
Massachusetts Department of Transportation The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) oversees roads, public transit, aeronautics, and transportation licensing and registration in the US state of Massachusetts. It was created on November 1, 2009, by the 186th Session of t ...
at the request of DCR. Police protection has been provided by the
Massachusetts Environmental Police The Massachusetts Environmental Police is a Massachusetts, US, state government law enforcement agency, which is the primary enforcement agency of Massachusetts's boating and recreation vehicle laws and regulations and is responsible for register ...
and the Massachusetts State Police after the MDC's police department was merged into the State Police in 1992. The DCR also maintains its own Bureau of Ranger Services which provides for public safety, search & rescue, and enforces violations on DCR owned and managed property. In addition to partnering with state agencies, DCR coordinates with local and national volunteer organizations, such as the Mystic River Watershed Association, Friends of the Middlesex Fells, Appalachian Mountain Club, and local student organizations.


Division of State Parks

The Division of State Parks is responsible for the maintenance and management of over of state-owned forests and parks. These areas are designated as either Woodlands, Parklands, or Reserves, and are managed to maintain specific land-use characteristics. From the agency's beginning in 2003 until 2012, DCR land management was organized into three divisions: State Parks and Recreation, Urban Parks and Recreation, and Water Supply Protection. In 2012, State Parks and Urban Parks were unified into one division. Within the greater Boston area there are urban wilds, historic sites, and other naturally aesthetic or significant environmental properties. The origins of the collective environments in this part of the division date back to the creation of the Metropolitan Park Commission in 1893, forming the first such regional system in the United States. (see Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston for history). Lands outside of the greater Boston area includes some 29
campgrounds A campsite, also known as a campground or camping pitch, is a place used for overnight stay in an outdoor area. In British English, a ''campsite'' is an area, usually divided into a number of pitches, where people can camp overnight using ten ...
, over of trails, 87 beaches, 37 swimming, wading, and spray pools, 62 playgrounds, 55 ballfields, of paved bike and rail trails and once private homes and estates that are now a part of the DCR's
Historic Curatorship Program The Massachusetts Historic Curatorship Program is a leasing program under the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) that promotes private investment in historic, public properties that are currently empty and in various st ...
.


List of State Parks

* List of Massachusetts State Parks


Division of Water Supply Protection

The Division of Water Supply Protection manages of watershed lands and is responsible for the protection of the drinking water supply for approximately 2.5 million residents of Massachusetts, primarily in Greater Boston. This division monitors lakes and ponds, well drillers, and rainfall throughout the Commonwealth.


Protected Water Supply Areas

* Quabbin Reservoir * Ware River Watershed * Wachusett Reservoir * Sudbury Reservoir


Bureau of Engineering

The Bureau of Engineering provides professional engineering, design, and construction management services in support of DCR properties. In addition to providing engineering services for over of parks, forests, watersheds, beaches, 340 dams, and numerous recreational facilities, the Bureau of Engineering also manages over 525 lane miles of parkways and nearly 300 bridges and tunnels notable for their landmark stature and importance in the Commonwealth’s transportation system. The Bureau of Engineering managed and/or operated a number of bridges across the Commonwealth prior to November 2009. All non-pedestrian bridges were transferred to the
Massachusetts Department of Transportation The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) oversees roads, public transit, aeronautics, and transportation licensing and registration in the US state of Massachusetts. It was created on November 1, 2009, by the 186th Session of t ...
on November 1, 2009 as part of a transportation reform law. Originally, a certain number of bridges listed in the act creating MassDOT were to be transferred after December 31, 2014 when ongoing construction was completed. However, a Memorandum of Agreement between DCR and MassDOT instead transferred these bridges in 2009 along with all other DCR vehicular bridges.


List of parkways

The Bureau of Engineering manages and/or operates a number of parkways across the Commonwealth, including: *
Alewife Brook Parkway Alewife Brook Parkway is a short parkway in Cambridge and Somerville, Massachusetts. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It begins at Fresh Pond in Cambridge (linking to Fresh Pond Parkway via Concord Avenue), and heads nor ...
* Arborway * Birmingham Parkway *
Blue Hills Parkway Blue Hills Parkway is a historic parkway that runs in a straight line from a crossing of the Neponset River, at the south border of Boston to the north edge of the Blue Hills Reservation in Milton, Massachusetts. It was built in 1893 to a design b ...
*
Blue Hills Reservation Parkways The Blue Hills Reservation Parkways are a network of historic parkways in and around the Blue Hills Reservation, a Massachusetts state park south of Boston, Massachusetts. It consists of six roadways (in seven distinct segments) that provide ci ...
*
Boylston Street Boylston Street is a major east–west thoroughfare in the city of Boston, Massachusetts. The street begins in Boston's Chinatown neighborhood, forms the southern border of the Boston Public Garden and Boston Common, runs through Back Bay, and e ...
(Back Bay sections) * Breakheart Reservation Parkways * Cambridge Parkway * Carey Circle * Charles River Reservation Parkways * Charles Street (Charles Circle to Leverett Circle) * Chestnut Hill Drive *
William J. Day Boulevard William J. Day Boulevard, or Day Boulevard, is a coastal parkway in Boston, Massachusetts. Beginning at Morrissey Boulevard and Kosciuszko Circle at the northern extent of the Dorchester section of the city, it travels in a gently curving north ...
* Fellsway Connector Parkways * Fellsmere Park Parkways * Fenway *
Fresh Pond Parkway Fresh Pond Parkway is a historic park and parkway on the western end of Cambridge, Massachusetts, part of the Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston. The parkway was built in 1899 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005. ...
*
Furnace Brook Parkway Furnace Brook Parkway is a historic parkway in Quincy, Massachusetts. Part of the Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston, it serves as a connector between the Blue Hills Reservation and Quincy Shore Reservation at Quincy Bay. First conceived ...
*
Hammond Pond Parkway Hammond Pond Parkway is a historic parkway in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. The road, built in 1932, extends from Hobart Road (at Beacon Street) in Newton to Horace James Circle in Brookline, where it joins the West Roxbury Parkway. It was desig ...
*
Hull Shore Drive Hull Shore Drive and Nantasket Avenue are a historic coastal parkway in Hull, Massachusetts. Nantasket Avenue, designated as part of Route 228, is the main road through the town of Hull. Hull Shore Drive is a short segment of the road, near ...
* Jamaicaway *
Land Boulevard Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of the planet Earth that is not submerged by the ocean or other bodies of water. It makes up 29% of Earth's surface and includes the continents and various is ...
*
Lynn Fells Parkway Lynn Fells Parkway is a parkway in Greater Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States. It is maintained by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation. The road runs from the end of Fellsway East in Stoneham, eastward through M ...
*
Lynnway Route 1A is a north–south state highway in Massachusetts. It is an alternate route to U.S. 1 with three signed sections and two unsigned sections where the highway is concurrent with its parent. Due to the reconfiguration of tunnel intercha ...
*
Lynn Shore Drive Lynn Shore Drive is an historic oceanfront parkway in Lynn, Massachusetts. Composed of a two-lane road, parkland, a seaside pedestrian esplanade, and a seawall, Lynn Shore Drive runs for approximately along Lynn's Atlantic Ocean coastline, fo ...
* Memorial Drive * Middlesex Fells Reservation Parkways * Morrissey Boulevard * Mount Greylock Summit Road *
Mount Wachusett Mount Wachusett is a mountain in Massachusetts. It straddles towns of Princeton and Westminster, in Worcester County. It is the highest point in Massachusetts east of the Connecticut River. The mountain is named after a Native American term me ...
Summit Road *
Mystic Valley Parkway Mystic Valley Parkway is a parkway in Arlington, Medford, Somerville, and Winchester, Massachusetts. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and forms part of Route 16. Route description The parkway runs roughly north–sou ...
*
Nahant Beach Boulevard Nahant Beach Boulevard, also Nahant Causeway and Nahant Road is a historic road on the isthmus connecting Nahant, Massachusetts to the mainland at Lynn, Massachusetts. The road runs from the Lynn Rotary, its junction with Lynn Shore Drive and th ...
*
Nantasket Avenue Hull Shore Drive and Nantasket Avenue are a historic coastal parkway in Hull, Massachusetts. Nantasket Avenue, designated as part of Route 228, is the main road through the town of Hull. Hull Shore Drive is a short segment of the road, near ...
*
Neponset Valley Parkway The Neponset Valley Parkway is a historic parkway in southern Boston and Milton, Massachusetts, United States. It is a connecting parkway in the Greater Boston area's network, providing a connection between the Blue Hills Reservation, Neponset R ...
*
North Beacon Street North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north' ...
(Brighton & Watertown sections) *
Norumbega Road Norumbega, or Nurembega, is a legendary settlement in northeastern North America which was featured on many early maps from the 16th century until European colonization of the region. It was alleged that the houses had pillars of gold and the i ...
(Weston) *
Old Harbor Reservation The Old Harbor Reservation Parkways are three historic roads in the Old Harbor area of Boston. They are part of the Boston parkway system designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. They include *all of William J. Day Boulevard, running from Castle Isla ...
Parkways *
Old Colony Parkway Morrissey Boulevard is a six-lane divided coastal road in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is owned and maintained by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR). Route description A parkway, ...
* Park Drive *
Parkman Drive Parkman may refer to: ; People * Francis Parkman (1823–1893) * His uncle George Parkman (1790–1849), the victim in the Parkman-Webster murder case ; Places in the United States * Parkman, Maine * Parkman, Ohio * Parkman, Wyoming ; Fictional ...
*
Quincy Shore Drive Quincy Shore Drive is a historic parkway in Quincy, Massachusetts. The road is one of a series of parkways built by predecessors of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, to provide access to parks and beaches in the Gre ...
*
Recreation Road Recreation is an activity of leisure, leisure being discretionary time. The "need to do something for recreation" is an essential element of human biology and psychology. Recreational activities are often done for enjoyment, amusement, or pleas ...
(Weston) *
Revere Beach Boulevard Revere Beach is a public beach in Revere, Massachusetts, located about north of downtown Boston. The beach is over long. In 1875, a rail link was constructed to the beach, leading to its increasing popularity as a summer recreation area, and i ...
*
Revere Beach Parkway Revere Beach Parkway is a historic parkway in the suburbs immediately north of Boston, Massachusetts. It begins at Wellington Circle in Medford, where the road leading to the west is Mystic Valley Parkway, and the north–south road is the F ...
*
Riverway Riverway, also referred to as "the Riverway," is a parkway in Boston, Massachusetts. The parkway is a link in the Emerald Necklace system of parks and parkways designed by Frederick Law Olmsted in the 1890s. Starting at the Landmark Center end ...
*
Stony Brook Reservation Parkways The Stony Brook Reservation Parkways are a group of historic parkways in Boston and Dedham, Massachusetts. They provide access to and within the Stony Brook Reservation, a Massachusetts state park. The roadways and the park are administered by ...
* Storrow Drive *
Truman Parkway The Truman Parkway is a historic parkway in Milton and southern Boston, Massachusetts. It runs along the southern boundary of a portion of the Neponset River Reservation and serves as a connection between the Neponset Valley Parkway and the ...
* VFW Parkway * West Roxbury Parkway *
Winthrop Parkway Winthrop Parkway is a historic parkway in Revere, Massachusetts. The parkway, built between 1909 and 1919 and now designated as part of Route 145, runs for about , from Eliot Circle (the junction with the Revere Beach Parkway and Revere Beach ...
*
Winthrop Shore Drive Winthrop Shore Drive is a historic parkway in Winthrop, Massachusetts. The mile-long parkway runs through the Winthrop Beach Reservation, and is administered by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR). The parkway is o ...


List of dams

The Bureau of Engineering owns and manages and/or operates a number of dams and flood control facilities across the Commonwealth, including: *
Irish Dam Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe *** Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent u ...
(Grafton) * Moose Hill Reservoir Dam (Spencer) *
Pontoosuc Lake Dam Pontoosuc is a village in Hancock County, Illinois, United States. The population was 146 at the 2010 census, down from 171 at the 2000 census. Geography Pontoosuc is located in northern Hancock County at (40.629520, -91.209603). It is borde ...
(Pittsfield) *
Unionville Pond Dam Unionville is the name of some places in North America: Canada * Unionville, Ontario **Unionville GO Station, a station in the GO Transit network located in the community **South Unionville, a community in Markham, Ontario United States *Unionvil ...
(Holden) * Charles River Dam (Boston)


See also

*
List of numbered routes in Massachusetts In the U.S. state of Massachusetts, the highway division of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) assigns and marks a system of state-numbered routes. __TOC__ List ...


References


External links


Department of Conservation and Recreation website

Roadways under the purview of DCR
{{authority control State agencies of Massachusetts * * *
Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation The Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) is a state agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, situated in the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. It is best known for its parks and parkways. The DCR's mission i ...
fr:Liste des parcs d'État du Massachusetts