Commonwealth Of Massachusetts Dept. Of Conservation & Recreation

Commonwealth Of Massachusetts Dept. Of Conservation & Recreation is a state government entity and a division of The Commonwealth Of Massachusetts that acts as a federal grant recipient (99% of its recent awards) for conservation, environmental management, and natural resource stewardship programs across Massachusetts, with no federal contract prime or subcontract activity. DCR operates 450,000 acres of public lands including forests, parks, and reservations while serving as the state's designated administrator for multiple federal environmental and conservation grant programs.

DCR's federal footprint centers on forest management, wildfire preparedness, invasive species control, dam safety, coastal research, and habitat conservation. The recipient distributes federal funding to private forest landowners, municipal governments, volunteer fire departments, and nonprofit organizations across Massachusetts to advance environmental objectives. A representative award set includes a $2,953,736 USDA Forest Service Cooperative Forestry Assistance grant (August 2025, CFDA 10.664) consolidating four forestry and fire capacity programs (Forest Stewardship Program, Urban and Community Forestry, State Fire Capacity, and Volunteer Fire Capacity); a $1,258,526 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration cooperative agreement (October 2025, CFDA 11.420) supporting operations and research at Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve on Cape Cod; and a $10,739,392 FEMA grant (September 2024, CFDA 97.041) for rehabilitation of high-hazard potential dams across the Commonwealth. DCR has also recently executed a $6,272,372 USDA Forest Service Inflation Reduction Act Landscape Scale Restoration grant (January 2025, CFDA 10.731) providing cost-sharing and technical assistance to private forest landowners for climate mitigation and carbon offset participation.

Customer concentration is heavily weighted toward USDA Forest Service Region 9 (Eastern Region), which accounts for 59 awards, and the Department of Commerce NOAA with 23 awards, together anchoring the grant portfolio. The Federal Emergency Management Agency Headquarters accounts for 19 awards focused on dam safety and community assistance programs, while the Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service Region 5 places 14 awards covering aquatic invasive species monitoring, habitat conservation, and forest health protection. The one federal contract in the portfolio—a $55,521 firm fixed-price definitive contract with the U.S. Secret Service for an antenna site lease in Boston (awarded October 2025, ultimate completion February 2028)—represents DCR's limited direct contracting posture; the agency operates primarily as a pass-through grant administrator and recipient rather than a service or goods vendor to federal agencies.

Grant work extends across CFDA programs including Forest Legacy (10.676, 10.734), Cooperative Forestry Assistance (10.664), Inflation Reduction Act initiatives (10.727, 10.731), State and Private Forestry Fire Assistance (10.698), Forest Health Protection (10.680), Community Wood Energy (10.708), Temporary Bridge Program (10.721), NOAA Coastal Zone Management Estuarine Research Reserves (11.420), FEMA National Dam Safety Program (97.041) and Community Assistance Program (97.023), Fish and Wildlife Service Aquatic Invasive Species programs (15.608), and historic preservation (15.904). Performance runs across Massachusetts with administrative headquarters at 10 Park Plaza, Boston, and field operations at reserve facilities on Cape Cod and across the state's public lands, forests, and water resources. DCR issues sub-awards to municipalities, nonprofit organizations (including Friends of Waquoit Bay Reserve, Nashua River Watershed Association, Regenerative Design Group Cooperative, and others), universities, and volunteer fire departments to execute funded environmental and conservation activities. Twenty awards face ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, presenting recompete and renewal pipeline activity.