I'm not telling you not to plant out there, and because the islands
are run by a partnership as you point out, they may be OK. After
all, the NPS isn't the sole administrator of the islands, so if the
Dept. of Conservation and Recreation has no problem with letterboxes,
why not place, right?
However, from the NPS website:
"Boston Harbor Islands national park area includes 34 islands
situated within the Greater Boston shoreline. The 34 islands are
managed by a unique, 13-member Partnership which includes the
National Park Service and other public and private organizations. An
advisory council provides a mechanism for public involvement."
The website includes a lot of official information about the islands,
including the partnership's by-laws, charter, general management
plan, and the legislation that regulates the park.
The General Management Plan (
http://www.nps.gov/boha/parkdocs/fgmp/BOHA_gmp.pdf) states in part:
"Congress established the Boston Harbor Islands as a unit of the
national park system in 1996. Rather than having the National Park
Service (NPS) own and manage the park, the law makes NPS a nonland-
owning participant in the Boston Harbor Islands Partnership and
directs the Partnership "to coordinate the activities of the
Federal,
State, and local authorities and the private sector in the
development and implementation of "a general management plan.
The enabling legislation established a 13-member body consisting of:
National Park Service, U.S. Coast Guard, Massachusetts Department
of Environmental Management, Metropolitan District Commission,
Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, Massachusetts Port
Authority, City of Boston, Boston Redevelopment Authority, Thompson
Island Outward Bound Education Center, The Trustees of Reservations,
Island Alliance, and Boston Harbor Islands Advisory Council."
It goes on to state:
"The National Park Service's role is to help coordinate the
Partnership and Advisory Council, to provide information and
orientation to the public, to develop and operate programs, and to
help assure that the park will be managed to NPS standards, as the
law requires."
And continues:
"Associated with each mission goal is a set of policies relevant for
this park. The Boston Harbor Islands policies build on the park's
legislated mandates and Park Service policy that applies to the
national system."
More important excerpts:
"The federal enabling legislation for the park requires that
the island system be administered in accordance with laws
applicable to the national park system."
"The Boston Harbor Islands policies build on the park's
legislated mandates and Park Service policy that applies to
the national system."
Now, the Plan does not list the NPS as owning any of the islands (to
the best of my knowledge all islands are owned by other members of
the Partnership, as follows:
"The United States owns three lighthouses on islands in the park
Boston Light, Long Island Head Light, and The Graves Light, as well
as the navigational marker Nixes Mate and the freestanding Deer
Island Light, not in the park, off the tip of Deer Island."
"Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management ... is the
agency that operates the state's 19 forests and parks system. It
has
managed 13 islands in Boston Harbor Islands State Park since the
1970s: Bumpkin, Gallops, Grape, Great Brewster, Middle Brewster,
Outer Brewster, Calf, Little Calf, Green, Hangman, Raccoon, Slate,
and Sheep. It also manages Spectacle Island jointly with the City of
Boston."
"Metropolitan District Commission ... managed three islands
of the state park, starting in the late 1950s with the
acquisition of one island. The islands are Georges, Lovells,
and Peddocks."
"Massachusetts Water Resources Authority ... operates two facilities
within the park: Deer Island Wastewater Treatment Plant and Nut
Island Headworks."
"Massport does not directly own or operate any of the Boston Harbor
Islands"
"The City of Boston owns Long, Moon, and Rainsford islands, and part
of Spectacle Island."
"Thompson Island today is owned and managed by a private nonprofit
educational institution"
"The Trustees of Reservations owns and manages Worlds End for public
recreational uses"
"The Town of Hingham owns and manages Langlee, Sarah, Ragged, and
Button islands in Hingham Harbor as conservation land."
A chart on page 22 of the report lists the managers of every island
in the park.
Thus, in my opinion, it is unclear whether the islands are available
to letterboxers. It seems they are owned and managed by a bunch of
governments, agencies, and organizations that may or may not prohibit
the activity, but all are controlled by a policy based on the
National Park Service policies.
Even if you determine that it's ok to place letterboxes on the
islands, some islands should be avoided:
"Fragile islands, such as Snake, Sheep, Green, Calf, Little Calf, and
Hangman, are highly restricted to protect habitat."
I suppose, I'd say go ahead and plant if you'd like -- I'd certainly
be willing to find the boxes you put there -- but be careful on which
islands you choose. Fragile habitats exist throughout the park.
Research the island before planting a box (you can do this at the NPS
website or at bostonislands.com) and be happy if the boxes survive,
but don't be surprised if they are confiscated.
Perhaps placing a few boxes and seeing what happens is the best way
to solve the puzzle. Or, I suppose, we could contact the NPS and
ask, although I'm fairly sure they'll say the islands are under their
domain and thus you can't plant, even if that's not the true answer.
Funny thing -- I was searching the NPS website for the policy that
disallowed geocaching and letterboxing. The only reference to
letterboxing I found was on the Conservation Institute's website, a
part of the NPS site (the institute was founded by the NPS) which
advertises a book called "
Questing: A Guide to Creating Community Treasure Hunts".
Go figure.
CPAScott
--- In letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com, "Jay and Amy"
> Ok,
>
> So curiosity got the better of me and I decided to check the Boston
> Harbor Islands website. It turns out that almost all the Islands
are
> managed by Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation
> (used to be the Department of Environmental Management and
> Metropolitan District Commission but the merged into the Department
> of Conservation and Recreation last year). This is the same
> department that manages our state forest and parks and our urban
> parks.
>
> The Islands managed by DCR:
> Bumpkin
> Gallops
> Georges
> Grape
> Great Brewster
> Lovells
> Peddocks
> Spectacle
> Thompson
>
> The only exceptions were:
> Deer Island - managed by the Massachusetts Water Resource Authority
> Little Brewster Island - managed by the U.S. Coast Guard
>
> So lets go plant!
>
> Amy (& Jay)