The Healey-Driscoll Administration announced the appointment of Easthampton Mayor Nicole LaChapelle as Commissioner of the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR). She takes over for Brian Arrigo on July 21, who is departing the administration to join the University of Massachusetts Lowell.
Nicole LaChapelle has served as Mayor of Easthampton since 2018. During her time as Mayor, Easthampton leveraged record-level grant funding to promote new affordable housing, protected green spaces, and strengthened infrastructure. She partnered with the Kestrel Land Trust to launch a unique initiative to build 90 units of affordable housing and conserve the vulnerable meadows, hayfields, and forests along the Manhan River. LaChapelle also partnered with the Land Trust again to secure 23 acres for the Mt. Tom North Trailhead Park.
In 2019, she led the City’s efforts to qualify for Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness grants, later leveraging those dollars to improve stormwater management, flood preparedness, and the urban tree canopy. LaChapelle helped oversee the redesign of the New City neighborhood, creating a new park, adding multi-use paths, and upgrading the sewer system. These upgrades are a part of Easthampton’s larger Green Infrastructure Plan spearheaded under Mayor LaChapelle, which envisions cleaner rivers and restored natural resources throughout the city. In 2021, she became the first mayor in the country to offer an employee benefit for EV adoption, concurrent with City’s own plans to transition the City fleet to electric vehicles. She hired Easthampton’s first Sustainability Coordinator to advance future climate preparedness and clean energy initiatives.
Prior to her time in office, LaChapelle spent over two decades working to support the interests of disabled and marginalized students. As a certified Massachusetts School Superintendent and Special Education Administrator, she went on to serve as the Chief of Pupil Services for Holyoke Public Schools in 2015, overseeing district special education services and related compliance functions. LaChapelle also served as a local attorney focused on civil rights advocacy, especially as it pertains to education and disabilities.
