Compiled in this map are datasets from and hosted by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, Mass GIS, and the Center for Coastal Studies that focus on public access areas including: public beaches and other recreational space, conservation lands, boat ramps and marinas. Note:Open space continually changes, as explained on the MassGIS webpage, therefore please consider the Protected and Open Space layers as underdevelopment. Additionally, open space parcels are general representations and not a legal record of ownership. The following types of land included in this layer may be privately or publicly owned. Public access categories refer to legal (not physical) levels of public access and includes some areas of limited public access ( by membership only).Definitions for Level of Protection In Perpetuity (P)- Legally protected in perpetuity and recorded as such in a deed or other official document. Land is considered protected in perpetuity if it is owned by the town’s conservation commission or, sometimes, by the water department; if a town has a conservation restriction on the property in perpetuity; if it is owned by one of the state’s conservation agencies (thereby covered by article 97); if it is owned by a non-profit land trust; or if the town received federal or state assistance for the purchase or improvement of the property. Private land is considered protected if it has a deed restriction in perpetuity, if an Agriculture Preservation Restriction has been placed on it, or a Conservation Restriction has been placed on it.Temporary (T) - Legally protected for less than perpetuity (e.g. short term conservation restriction), or temporarily protected through an existing functional use. For example, some water district lands are only temporarily protected while water resource protection is their primary use.These lands could be developed for other uses at the end of their temporary protection or when their functional use is no longer necessary. These lands will revert to unprotected status at a given date unless protection status is extended.Limited (L) - Protected by legal mechanisms other than those above, or protected through functional or traditional use.These lands might be protected by a requirement of a majority municipal vote for any change in status. This designation also includes lands that are likely to remain open space for other reasons (e.g. cemeteries and municipal golf courses).None (N) - Totally unprotected by any legal or functional means. This land is usually privately owned and could be sold without restriction at any time for another use (e.g. scout camps, private golf course, and private woodland).For more information about this open space layer please visit MassGIS Content

Cemeteries and Private Golf Courses in Amherst

The protected and recreational open space datalayer contains the boundaries of conservation lands and outdoor recreational facilities in Massachusetts. The associated database contains relevant information about each parcel, including ownership, level of protection, public accessibility, assessor’s map and lot numbers, and related legal interests held on the land, including conservation restrictions. Conservation and outdoor recreational facilities owned by federal, state, county, municipal, and nonprofit enterprises are included in this datalayer. Not all lands in this layer are protected in perpetuity, though nearly all have at least some level of protection.Although the initial data collection effort for this data layer has been completed, open space changes continually and this data layer is therefore considered to be under development. Additionally, due to the collaborative nature of this data collection effort, the accuracy and completeness of open space data varies across the state’s municipalities. Attributes, while comprehensive in scope, may be incomplete for many parcels.The OpenSpace layer includes two feature classes:OPENSPACE_POLY - polygons of recreational and conservation lands as described aboveOPENSPACE_ARC - attributed lines that represent boundaries of the polygonsThese feature classes are stored in an ArcSDE feature dataset named OPENSPACE that includes ArcGIS geodatabase topology. OPENSPACE_POLY - The following types of land are included in this datalayer:conservation land- habitat protection with minimal recreation, such as walking trails recreation land- outdoor facilities such as town parks, commons, playing fields, school fields, golf courses, bike paths, scout camps, and fish and game clubs. These may be privately or publicly owned facilities. town forests parkways - green buffers along roads, if they are a recognized conservation resource agricultural land- land protected under an Agricultural Preservation Restriction (APR) and administered by the state Department of Agricultural Resources (DAR, formerly the Dept. of Food and Agriculture (DFA)) aquifer protection land - not zoning overlay districts watershed protection land - not zoning overlay districts cemeteries - if a recognized conservation or recreation resourceforest land -- if designated as a Forest Legacy AreaOPENSPACE ARC- This datalayer includes all arcs that bound openspace polygons. These arcs are coded as being coincident with other map features (town boundary, stream, etc.).

Athough MassGIS has served trails information from the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) for many years, this new Trails layer is MassGIS’ first attempt at a statewide, multi-sourced dataset. This layer was created from two primary sources, DCR Trails and the Metropolitan Area Planning Council’s (MAPC) Trailmap. Additionally, a few other trail networks were added from OpenStreetMap (OSM), municipalities, and conservation organizations, but the amount of information from these sources is relatively small.This trails dataset was created for use in the State 9-1-1 Department’s mapping application Response Assist and is intended to assist telecommunicators with lost hikers as well as potentially responding to emergencies within remote areas. Because the layer is primarily being used by 9-1-1, it was decided to focus on those trails found in wilderness areas and used as hiking trails. This resulted in the omission of many arcs from the source data. Examples of these include cart paths on golf courses, the network of paved paths on school campuses, sidewalks, and many other arcs that could functionally serve as trails but were in relatively open and developed areas.Updated with linework from OpenStreetMap in summer 2023 and published on November 14, 2023.See full metadata.Map service also available.

Athough MassGIS has served trails information from the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) for many years, this new Trails layer is MassGIS’ first attempt at a statewide, multi-sourced dataset. This layer was created from two primary sources, DCR Trails and the Metropolitan Area Planning Council’s (MAPC) Trailmap. Additionally, a few other trail networks were added from OpenStreetMap (OSM), municipalities, and conservation organizations, but the amount of information from these sources is relatively small.This trails dataset was created for use in the State 9-1-1 Department’s mapping application Response Assist and is intended to assist telecommunicators with lost hikers as well as potentially responding to emergencies within remote areas. Because the layer is primarily being used by 9-1-1, it was decided to focus on those trails found in wilderness areas and used as hiking trails. This resulted in the omission of many arcs from the source data. Examples of these include cart paths on golf courses, the network of paved paths on school campuses, sidewalks, and many other arcs that could functionally serve as trails but were in relatively open and developed areas.Updated with linework from OpenStreetMap in summer 2023 and published on November 14, 2023.See full metadata.Feature service also available.

Athough MassGIS has served trails information from the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) for many years, this new Trails layer is MassGIS’ first attempt at a statewide, multi-sourced dataset. This layer was created from two primary sources, DCR Trails and the Metropolitan Area Planning Council’s (MAPC) Trailmap. Additionally, a few other trail networks were added from OpenStreetMap (OSM), municipalities, and conservation organizations, but the amount of information from these sources is relatively small.This trails dataset was created for use in the State 9-1-1 Department’s mapping application Response Assist and is intended to assist telecommunicators with lost hikers as well as potentially responding to emergencies within remote areas. Because the layer is primarily being used by 9-1-1, it was decided to focus on those trails found in wilderness areas and used as hiking trails. This resulted in the omission of many arcs from the source data. Examples of these include cart paths on golf courses, the network of paved paths on school campuses, sidewalks, and many other arcs that could functionally serve as trails but were in relatively open and developed areas.Updated with linework from OpenStreetMap in summer 2023 and published on November 14, 2023.See full metadata.Feature service also available.