Mount Greylock Without Full-Time Staffing By Jack Guerino, iBerkshires Staff
02:45AM / Friday, January 27, 2017 | |
 The Mount Greylock Advisory Council is lobbying the state for more staffing for the 11,000-acre state reservation. |
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — This spring means the reopening of the War Memorial atop Mount Greylock after a $2.3 million restoration. And likely more fans looking for Ilvermorny, the fictional Potterworld wizarding school.
More than 150,000 people visit the state's highest summit every year, but park officials are worried there won't be enough staff.
"The mountain is beautiful and it takes people to protect it. You just can't put signs and gates up," Joseph Rogge of the Mount Greylock Advisory Council said. "More people are needed and we are trying to get by with less."
The Department of Conservation and Recreation's Trails Coordinator Becky Barnes told the council on Thursday that the state has not replaced full-time employees who left and that there are no full-time employees on the mountain.
"Currently, there are no year-round people on Mount Greylock," she said. "We are down to no one now."
Barnes said with the recent departure of Mount Greylock Supervisor Alec Gillman, only seasonal help is left.
"We backfilled that position with two seasonal people to end the summer season and we backfilled it with seasonal workers this winter until March," she said. "Come March it is just going to be me here for a while."
She said Gillman is the biggest loss because the supervisor provided a sense of consistency year-round.
A full-time visitor services supervisor is also gone and Barnes does not expect the position to be filled. Visitor center hours have been cut back to just the weekends.
Barnes said there were two full-time staff and three seasonal workers last winter.
She said the state is trying to cut the budget without laying people off and has been offering incentives for staff to retire or leave.
Chairman Cosmo Catalano said state Rep. Gailanne Cariddi and state Sen. Adam Hinds jointly sent a letter to the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs outlining the problem.
"It's a pretty direct letter," he said. "The word is getting out there but the pie is only so big."
Barnes said the mountain is an important part of the local economy.
"I think we need to stress that," she said. "A lot of people come here to vacation and they spend money. Our parks are an important part of the economy."
In other business, Barnes said there is still some work to do finish up on the War Memorial. She said the contractors are aiming to have a grand opening on Memorial Day but this will be determined by when they can get up the mountain to finish.
"I don't know exactly how much time they are going to need to do it all and it all really depends on access and when they can get up there," she said.
Bascom Lodge manager John Dudek also attended the meeting and said 2017 marks the lodge's 80th anniversary.
He added there were no major problems past season and the lodge was well used.
Improvements were made to the porch and heat was extended heat into it; this year, some repairs will have to be done on the roof.
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