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MetroFuture brings a regional perspective to land use and development, and establishes a framework for the distribution of growth and preservation activities.  The plan establishes overarching objectives for land preservation based on available data, but further analysis is necessary to effectively prioritize preservation efforts and establish supportive development controls.  The framework of MetroFuture can be applied to statewide or regional land conservation planning; its emphasis on regionalism can also be applied to “local” open space planning efforts. 

1)    Develop statewide plans for land conservation  
The Massachusetts State Land Conservation Plan is the most comprehensive statewide vision for land conservation.  This plan was developed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation, in consultation with other public agencies and environmental organizations.  It prioritizes potential conservation land with a ranking from 1 – 8 (highest priority), based on the participating organizations’ assessment of the ecological, agricultural, hydrological, and recreational value of various areas. 

In order to provide a comprehensive statewide roadmap for land conservation, the Commonwealth should update the existing Plan or create a new one, complete with a detailed implementation strategy.  The completed Plan will prioritize sensitive lands that need to be acquired to protect watersheds and provide open space to areas with limited access.  One aspect of the Plan should be a usable tool, such as a map clearly identifying priority lands, available to all state, regional and local planning officials, to inform their decisions on what to protect and how.

Such an effort will benefit from the robust datasets that the state already has for priority habitats, water resources, protected open space, and other environmental resources.  Unfortunately, similarly detailed data are not readily available for agricultural resources in the state.  There is no comprehensive inventory of farms and agricultural enterprises, land in agricultural use, prime agricultural soils, and other elements of the state’s food system.  This information should be compiled so that agricultural resources can be fully integrated into statewide and regional open space planning. 

1.a    The Department of Conservation should lead a new effort to update the State Land Conservation Plan

1.b    The Department of Agricultural Resources should develop a statewide inventory of agricultural resources

2)    Bring strategic and regional perspectives to local open space planning
Since many open space resources cross municipal boundaries, any effective open space planning must include a regional component.  However, this regional perspective is hard to implement when most open space planning happens at the local level.  Municipalities should aggressively pursue opportunities to meet open space and recreation needs through shared facilities or development of regional resources.  

Currently, each municipality in the state is required to prepare its own Open Space and Recreation Plan (OSRP) in order to be eligible for many funding programs.   The Division of Conservation Services (DCS) reviews and approves these plans and awards grants to support their implementation.  The current OSRP Requirements include a section on regional context, but the requirements for this section fall short of requiring a thorough analysis of regional considerations.  These standards should provide clear guidance and expectations for a thorough analysis of regional considerations and they should explicitly support the regional development and implementation of OSRPs.  DCS should convene a working group (including MAPC and private conservation organizations) to revise the regional element of the OSRP requirements, and should create a new category of plans (and funding) for multi-municipality open space plans.  

The current structure by which the state guides local open space planning consists of guidelines for preparing open space plans.  The guidelines themselves result in open space plans that are very limited and traditional in the following ways:

• Communities put too much effort into compiling the extensive background data that is required with less emphasis on strategic planning.
• The guidelines encourage the creation of overly ambitious laundry lists of action items which are completely unrealistic for communities to implement.
• The plans are either done by local volunteers or staff person who doesn’t have the time to complete a plan in a timely manner or by a consultant who prepares a very generic plan.
• The planning process does not encourage communities to reach out to a broader constituency or to think beyond the borders.

More attention to strategic action, tighter connections to land use plan and zoning, and a greater emphasis on regional resources (both environmental and fiscal) will help these local open space plans be more effective. 

2.a    DCS should convene a working group to revise regional component of Open Space and Recreation Plan requirements

2.b    EOEEA should support pilot programs for the creation of multi-municipality Open Space and Recreation Plans

2.c    Municipal open space planning efforts should thoroughly explore regional issues and opportunities

2.d    MAPC should develop a repository of geographic data on acquisition priorities

3)    Establish stronger “No Net Loss” policies for natural land resources
The state can establish policies to prevent or mitigate the conversion of public or private conservation or natural resource lands to developed uses.  “No Net Loss” legislation requires that when state or local government converts conservation land to other purposes, they must permanently protect an equal or greater amount of land of equivalent or higher conservation value.  Various state agencies can also assess the impacts of programs and funding on priority lands; in order to ensure that any impact attributable to state funding is mitigated.   The Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs should review all “surplus” land for resource values before disposition by the Department of Capital Asset Management. 

3.a    The legislature should adopt legislation (such as the Public Lands Protection Act) to prevent the disposition of state-owned conservation land

3.b    By legislation or executive order, establish a “no-net loss” goal for the state’s agricultural land and prime agricultural soils

4)    Exclude valuable natural resource lands from areas identified as priority development areas or focus areas for growth
State and regional policies and plans—for regional land use planning, transit-oriented development, economic development, and other uses—should seek to exclude priority natural resource lands (identified through state or regional planning) from areas identified as priority development areas or focus areas for growth, just as they would exclude large areas of wetlands or floodplain. 

4.a    MAPC and allied organization should recommend modifications to Chapter 43D regulations or implementation to discourage development of priority natural resource lands