Mount Greylock Advisory Council Hopes to Clarify Role With State

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
05:53AM / Thursday, April 24, 2025Print Story | Email Story

The Mount Greylock Advisory Council is hoping changes at the state level will give it more of a voice in Boston.

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — The Mount Greylock Advisory Council hopes that a new state division will help clarify its role and foster more communication.

On the agenda for Wednesday's quarterly meeting was "Does Council have a voice in Boston?" Members have cited a disconnect with the Department of Conservation and Recreation when it comes to items concerning the mountain.

"We're supposed to be an advisory council, and things are coming down from the state, and we didn't even know about it," Chair Heather Linscott explained.

A day before the meeting, she received an email from DCR's Director of Partnerships Paul Fahey, who is aware of the council's concerns and shared how the department is structuring a policy and public affairs team to provide this kind of support. He stepped into the position earlier this year.

"It seems important to set up a path for future success for engagement between the Advisory Council and DCR on our common goals, rather than a continued discussion of the previous role the Council played," Fahey wrote.

"Our team is happy to work with you on this."

Based on his understanding of the council's history, "It appears clear that there was never any statutory basis for the establishment of the Council or its role. It was set in other ways in the past, both by DCR (and its predecessor agency, DEM) and other regional entities."

When county government was dissolved, many of these organizations and groups went with it.

"We're supposed to be an advisory group for any project that happens on the mountain because we know the mountain. We all have different expertise on the mountain. We know it inside and out, basically," Cheshire representative Gary Trudeau explained.

"So that's where we want to get back to. Some type of official advisory role, even though we don't officially have that now."

Fahey explained that the Policy and Public Affairs division is still being staffed after budget-related delays, but hopes to soon have a deputy commissioner who assumes overall responsibility and a peer position to direct intergovernmental relations and policy.

"One of our top priorities relates to a more formal process for recognizing and maintaining relationships with our partnerships, including 'Friends' groups, as well as organizations like yours," Fahey wrote, proposing that these entities meet to discuss the specific issues of governance going forward as a more formal partnership process is developed.

"We have an opportunity to redefine the role of the Advisory Council in a productive way to recognize the desire of your group and others to have a positive impact on what happens at Mt. Greylock."

DCR's Mountain District Manager Mark Jester said this portion of the agency will fill a "large need" and open communication. The division is set to focus solely on issues like this one and will handle partnerships with friends groups, etc., and the state.

"We're very excited that this part of the organization is up and running because I think it's going to take a lot of pressure off of the people that shouldn't be put under that kind of pressure," he said.

"Open a line of communication."

The mountain's roadways are expected to open on May 17, and the Bascom Lodge and War Memorial Tower on May 24.

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State, Local Leaders Celebrate Funding Boost For Ashuwillticook Rail Trail Extension

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
05:39PM / Thursday, September 10, 2026

ADAMS, Mass. — State officials and local leaders kicked up their kickstands and took a ride along the final stretch of the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail on Thursday to celebrate new investments in rural communities.

Federal Funds and Infrastructure Office (FFIO) Director Quentin Palfrey joined local leaders, including State Rep. John Barrett III and Berkshire Regional Planning Commission (BRPC) Executive Director Laura Brennan, in Adams to highlight the newest round of FFIO funding. The grant will provide BRPC with $64,700 in state funds to help advance the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail expansion.

"When Governor Healey came into office, one of her big day-one commitments was to make sure that Massachusetts was fighting for every dollar possible coming out of Washington," Palfrey said, speaking about FFIO, a program created in 2023 to help the state aggressively pursue and coordinate federal funding opportunities.

This builds on a $17.3 million federal award secured last year for the project, dubbed the A2A project, which supports the design of a 9.3-mile shared-use path connecting the existing Ashuwillticook Rail Trail to the Williamstown Mohican Path.

"One of the things that she emphasized to me when we set up the Federal Funds and Infrastructure Office was that we need to make sure that these resources not only come into Massachusetts, but benefit all of Massachusetts," Palfrey added.

The additional $64,700 will allow BRPC to gather information about transportation needs in northern Berkshire County to help inform the design of the trail expansion. BRPC will partner with Williams College and Luminary Evaluation, LLC to use the University of Michigan's Transportation Security Index (TSI).

Brennan said BRPC will deploy a 16-question survey that will allow them "to research local and regional perspectives and surface the needs of our neighbors when it comes to transportation in the Berkshires."

"The best-case scenario would be if the survey turned up results that all needs are met and that everyone has access to the places and the things that they need to travel to – but we know that is not true," Brennan said. "We know that folks in Berkshire struggle to get to their place of employment, to be able to access important medical appointments, [and] other engagements. So, the transportation security index is going to help us really hone in on those specific needs, identify pockets of needs or areas where there is a strong concentration or depth of need."

She said FFIO's investment offers a "wonderful augmentation" to BRPC's current plans for the bike trail extension. It's also an investment that will make the region more competitive for other transportation opportunities.

"This is an incredibly multifaceted and valuable investment, and we deeply appreciate it," she said.

Barrett said these investments drive growth in the Berkshires.

"I've always found that if you're going to grow an area, you grow with what you have here to grow. You don't bring something in. We have a natural beauty. We have an environment that's second to none, and that's what we are going to grow on," he said.

Barrett said that in the First Berkshire District alone, 4,000 new people moved to the area.

"We're seeing that migration here. They're going to have activities. They're going to have jobs, and we're going to have a great educational system that goes with it with our two colleges that are here," he said.

Palfrey said it was clear during the initial creation of FFIO that federal funding often went to wealthier and more urban communities with larger planning departments and greater access to consultants. He added that FFIO helps reverse this trend and get projects in rural communities off the ground.

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