Map of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area.
Ferries of the Harbor Islands Express link downtown Boston with some of the islands.
The
Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area is a
National Recreation Area situated among the islands of
Boston Harbor of
Boston,
Massachusetts. The area is made up of a collection of
islands, together with a former island and a
peninsula, many of which are open for public recreation and some of which are very small and best suited for wildlife. The area is run by the
Boston Harbor Islands Partnership.
It includes the
Boston Harbor Islands State Park, managed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Twenty one of the 34 islands in the area are also included in the
Boston Harbor Islands Archeological District.
Attractions include
hiking trails, beaches, the
Civil War-era
Fort Warren on
Georges Island and
Boston Light on
Little Brewster Island, one of the oldest
lighthouses in the nation. Georges Island and
Spectacle Island are served seasonally by ferries to and from
Boston and
Quincy, connecting on weekends and summer weekdays with a shuttle boat to several other islands,
Hull, and
Hingham.
In 1996, there was a project proposal by Boston's mayor
Tom Menino and
Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Clifford A. Goudey to revitalize the
aquaculture and fish population in Boston Harbor. This would have involved using the old tanks and granite canals on Moon Island.
List of islands and peninsulas
The Boston Harbor Islands National National Recreation Area is made up of a series of discrete islands and other places on and around Boston Harbor. These include:
Two islands (Castle Island and Spinnaker Island) in Boston Harbor are not part of the National Recreation Area, and two former islands (Apple Island and Governors Island) were obliterated by Logan International Airport before the area was designated.Management
The Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area is managed by the Boston Harbor Islands Partnership, a statutory body established as a federal operating committee by the park enabling legislation. The partnership consists of individual members who represent a range of federal, state, city, and nonprofit agencies, including:
Additionally the partnership includes members representing the Island Alliance, a fund-raising body dedicated to raising funds for the National Recreation Area, and the Boston Harbor Islands Advisory Council. There are 13 members in total, together with 13 alternates. Apart from the representative for the Coast Guard, who is appointed by the Secretary of Homeland Security, all the members of the partnership are appointed by the Secretary of the Interior after consultation with the appropriate agency or other body.
In practice, day to day management of each individual island or other site is the responsibility of one of the partner agencies or other bodies. The partnership provides a consistency and coordination across the whole park.Boston Harbor Islands State Park
Boston Harbor Islands State Park is a Massachusetts state park comprising 13 islands located in Boston Harbor, which now forms part of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area.
The park was developed from the 1970s by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management (DEM). In 1996, the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area was created, including the State Park's islands and many others. However, due the unusual partnership management arrangements of the National Recreation Area, the State Park still exists as a low profile administrative entity. It is now managed by the DEM's successor, the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, from a park headquarters near to the ferry terminal in Hingham.
The islands of the Boston Harbor Islands State Park are:Transportation
Harbor Islands Express offers ferry service from Long Wharf at Christopher Columbus Park to Georges and Spectacle Islands. Free service to additional islands is available from Georges Island.
