Massachusetts · statute · Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 132A · 42 active provisions
Section 1. The commissioner of the department of environmental management, hereinafter referred to in this chapter as the commissioner, may receive and hold in trust on behalf of the commonwealth, exempt from taxation, bequests, restitutions or gifts to be used for the purpose of advancing the recreational and conserva…
Section 1B. The division of state parks and recreation shall be under the administrative supervision of a director, who shall be called the director of state parks and recreation.
Section 1C. There shall be in the division of forests and parks a bureau of forest fire control under the direction and control of a chief fire warden, a bureau of forestry under the direction and control of a chief forester and a bureau of recreation under the direction and control of a chief of recreation. The direct…
Section 1D. The bureau of forest fire control shall perform such duties as the director, with the approval of the commissioner, may require, in addition to such other duties as may be required by any general or special laws.
Section 1E. The bureau of recreation shall perform such duties as the director, with the approval of the commissioner, may require, and shall be responsible for such other duties pertaining to administration and management of recreation areas as are now vested in the division of parks and recreation by the general laws…
Section 1F. The bureau of forestry shall, under the supervision of the director, with the approval of the commissioner perform such duties as respects forest management practices, reforestation, development of forest or wooded areas under the control of the department, making them in perpetuity income producing and imp…
Section 1G. The director may designate any employee of the division to supervise any of the bureaus during the absence or disability of the chief thereof, and they shall have all the powers required to administer such bureaus, provisions in the general laws to the contrary notwithstanding.
Section 1H. The director of the division of state parks and recreation shall devote his whole time during business hours to the work of the division and shall be responsible for the performance of the functions of the division as specified by law. Each subdivision or section of the division shall be under his direction…
Section 2. The commissioner, with like approval, on petition of any board or commission charged with the care and maintenance of any park or reservation owned by the commonwealth outside of the urban parks district, with the approval of the county commissioners of the county or counties wherein such park or reservation…
Section 2A. The commissioner is hereby authorized and directed to establish a long-term program of state parks, state forest recreation areas and state reservations, and for such purpose may improve areas now under the control of the department of environmental management and acquire adequate land and water areas for s…
Section 2B. It is hereby declared to be the policy of the commonwealth that all such sites acquired or developed by the commissioner shall in so far as practicable be preserved in their natural state; that they shall be in so far as possible collectively self-supporting; and that no commercial activities except those e…
Section 2C. The planning, construction, operation and maintenance of the facilities acquired or developed under section two A shall be under the jurisdiction of the commissioner. In the preparation of plans of said facilities, the commissioner shall have the advice and assistance of the department of highways, the depa…
Section 2D. In the development and improvement of state parks, state forest recreation areas and state reservations, the commissioner is hereby authorized and empowered:—(1) To acquire, plan, construct, maintain and operate public recreational facilities, including roads, areas for parking, picknicking and camping, pro…
Section 3. The commissioner may, from time to time within the limits of appropriations made therefor, acquire for the commonwealth, by eminent domain under chapter seventy-nine or by purchase, lease or otherwise, any lands suitable for purposes of conservation or recreation lying outside of the urban parks district, an…
Section 3A. The exercise of the power of eminent domain under the provisions of section three shall be subject to the approval of the stewardship council, and the board of selectmen in any town in which is located any land proposed to be taken by eminent domain. If such board of selectmen fails to approve or disapprove…
Section 3B. A person shall not acquire any rights by prescription or adverse possession in any lands or rights in lands of the commonwealth under the control of the department of conservation and recreation.
Section 7. The commissioner, in consultation with the director of the division, may make rules and regulations for the government and use of all property under the control of the division, including all roads and highways wholly or in part within the boundaries of such property, including rules and regulations relative…
Section 7A. There is established within the department of environmental management, division of forest and parks, the position titles of chief park ranger and park ranger, provisions of the General Laws or any special law to the contrary notwithstanding. Said positions shall not be eligible for the provisions of Group…
Section 7B. If money, goods or other property which has been stolen, lost, abandoned or taken from a person under arrest comes into the possession of an employee of the division by virtue of his office or employment, he shall deliver the same to the person designated by the division to receive the same, and he shall th…
Section 7C. If no person proves ownership of such money, goods or other property within 6 months, the division may cause the goods or other property excepting money unclaimed, to be sold at public auction at a place and time and by a person as the division may designate.
Section 7D. Notice of the time and place of the sale, with a description of the property, shall be given by publishing the same once in a newspaper published in Boston.
Section 7E. The property, if perishable or liable to deteriorate greatly in value by keeping, or the value of which will probably be less than the expense of keeping, may be sold at public auction at a place and at a time within 6 months and by a person as the division may designate, notice of the time and place of sal…
Section 7F. The proceeds of the sale, together with the unclaimed money, after deducting all reasonable charges and expenses incurred on account of the property, shall be accounted for and paid to the commonwealth.
Section 7G. If within 2 years after the sale the owner claims the property and proves ownership to the satisfaction of the division, the amount of the unclaimed money or the proceeds of the sale of the property, after deducting reasonable expenses, shall be paid to him by the state treasurer out of the special account,…
Section 8. The director shall, in an advisory capacity, assist boards and commissions charged with the care and maintenance of parks or reservations owned by the commonwealth outside of the urban parks district, which are not placed under the care and control of the division.