I’m writing to you to urge that you weigh in with the Patrick administration
and let them know how you feel about saving the Belmont Uplands.
In January, I filed House Bill 21 that would create a state/local,
public/private partnership to acquire the property to add it to the state’s
Alewife reservation.
The bill had a very positive legislative hearing in June, but will go
nowhere without administration support. Although the legislature acts quite
independently on some issues, the legislature does tend to put great weight
on the administration’s prioritization of park property acquisitions.
*With the state’s many competing funding priorities, the bill is still a
long shot at this point. *But it will gain some traction if the Patrick
administration chooses to support it*. *Ultimately, the Patrick
administration will make its decision based on the big picture and a broad
range of objective criteria, but one of those criteria has to be the value
that local residents and potential visitors to the property place on it.
So letting the administration know how we feel is very worthwhile. You can
take just a moment to follow the links to the Patrick administration website
and weigh in: http://devalpatrick.com/issue.php?issue_id=7642171. (See more
detailed instructions further below.)
Or, if you are willing to give the issue a few more minutes, you can contact
Caroline Huang. Caroline is leading the charge to let the Patrick
Administration know about how many people in Belmont and in the surrounding
region care about saving the Belmont Uplands/Silver Maple Forest property.
Please see her e-mail below.
/w.
===================================================
Hello everyone,
As many of you know, preserving the Silver Maple Forest at Belmont
Uplands has been a concern for many years. As a step toward
protecting this land, Will has filed House Bill 21 to appropriate $6
million toward acquiring the Silver Maple Forest (Belmont Uplands)
for the Department of Conservation and Recreation (bill text:
http://www.mass.gov/legis/bills/house/185/ht00pdf/ht00021.pdf; see
also the attached FAQ).
To show support for the bill, we’re mounting a campaign to collect
5000 signatures on postcards to bring to Gov. Patrick. Would you
help us? We need your signature and those of your family, friends,
and neighbors. If you would like to sign, please contact me
(caroline.hu…@verizon.net) to get postcards, or ask one of our
volunteers who will be collecting signatures around town.
We’re also collecting electronic votes at DevalPatrick.com. You are
*very welcome* to both sign a postcard *and* vote electronically. On
this website, you may click on the “MyIssue.DevalPatrick.com” button
at the left of the screen, then type “silver maple” in the search
field at the bottom of the “issues” screen. Please vote for our
issue and if possible, leave a personal statement (even a very brief
one helps).
If you have more time and interest, we also need people to collect
signatures in public and people who will distribute postcards to other
groups.
Residents of surrounding areas and conservationists want desperately
for the land to remain open space, whereas the developer who
purchased the land is advancing in the permitting process to build a
large development. Will tells us that this is a long shot, but it is
the best chance this land has.
Let’s get Will’s House Bill 21 passed! Please contact me if you can help.
Thanks,
Caroline Huang
Brownsberger campaign volunteer 2006
Caroline Huang
Coordinator
Save the Silver Maple Forest Campaign