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State EOEEA Approves Lynnfield Open Space & Recreation Plan - March 31, 2022

Town can now apply for grant funding through 2028!
Posted on: March 31, 2022 - 3:08pm
approval from eoeea

Today, March 31, 2022, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EOEEA) approved the Lynnfield Open Space & Recreation Plan (Plan).

An EOEEA-approved Plan is required to qualify and be reimbursed for many key grants – the most recent being the $1.6 million MVP Grant which was awarded to Lynnfield this past summer.

Plans are extremely comprehensive; detailing the entire community from history to demographics, economic data, environmental resources, identification of wildlife and endangered species, challenges to the community, development plans, and many more topics. At its heart, a Plan represents what residents want for open space in their community. In 2018, Lucy Madden spearheaded a town-wide survey, the results which were presented at a public forum. Resident feedback about open space was largely consistent with feedback from the 1998 and 2010 Open Space Plans, the goals of the 2002 Master Plan, and echoed again in the 2017 town-wide Planning Board’s Master Plan Steering Committee’s town-wide survey. Consequently, the Plan’s committee feels extremely confident that the goals and objectives of the Plan reflect the desires of the community.

The Plan’s 5 overarching goals of Lynnfield’s Open Space & Recreation Plan are:

  • Increase public awareness of natural resources and conservation areas through education, site tours, posting on media channels
  • Provide a range of recreational opportunities for all residents
  • Manage, maintain, and improve existing open space. Promote this space and make it accessible to the public for appropriate use
  • Acquire new open space to preserve Lynnfield’s character, protect drinking water supplies and meet passive and active recreation needs.
  • Ensure the protection of important wildlife habitats, surface waters, wetlands and other critical natural resources and scenic landscapes

Active Plan committee members are former Conservation Administrator Betty Adelson, Erin Madden, Lucy Madden, Reid LaVoie, and Concom staff.