updated July 27, 2021
MCV’s Recommendations to the DCR Special Commission
By Chuck Anastas, Doug Pizzi and the MCV Board of Directors
Massachusetts Conservation Voters’ (MCV) sees DCR’s and the DCR Stewardship Council’s work as crucial to the public’s health and welfare. Furthermore, DCR’s stewardship enhances the natural, historical, cultural, and recreational resources we depend on, while supporting the outdoor industry. Outdoor activity in turn supports more than 113,000 jobs and contributes $10.5 billion in annual revenue to our economy.
And yet, the FY21 general revenue share of the DCR budget was $3 million less than it was in 2009. While at the same time, the overall state budget saw an increase of $18 billion.
When a public agency is starved of needed funds, its performance falters, putting the public’s confidence at stake. In a slow downward spiral the agency plays a game of whack-a-mole, attending to emergencies rather than moving forward with strategic improvements in its service to the public.
It results in bad public policy decisions like installing parking meters and allowing private parking along Revere Beach, the first American public beach which had been free to all comers for 125 years.
In a paradigm shift, the pandemic has proven the essential nature of our public resources, as witnessed by the tens of thousands of people turning to their public spaces for their physical and mental health. Yet DCR is not only underfunded, but also at a critical stage of a long and painful disinvestment.
We urge the Special Commission not to cannibalize DCR by removing assets and responsibilities to other agencies where they do not belong. Pretending that DCR is mismanaged is the opposite of reality – if there has been mismanagement it is the decision makers who, until recently, have year after year walked away from the agency and its mission.
MCV proposes massive re-engagement and prioritized funding for our parks and recreational resources. We recommend that DCR receive a yearly operating increase of $10 million over the next 10 years, a $100 million reinvestment.
We also propose a cap on the retained revenue account at $20 million. The constant upward pressure to raise fees and other non-tax dollars to fund regular DCR operations is a key factor in how we got to this current state of affairs.
Additionally, we propose that the Commission recommend a $250 million a year capital budget over each of the next 10 years devoted to eliminating the deferred maintenance backlog and building a 21st-century green infrastructure.
And finally, we urge the Special Commission to recommend that the DCR become a cabinet level executive office reporting directly to the Governor. With 450,000 acres under management, DCR lands are more than half the size of Rhode Island. The breadth and depth of DCR’s responsibilities and its importance to the Commonwealth, to all of us, deserve nothing less.
MCV asks that you join us in insisting that our government leaders uphold their responsibility to our open spaces. We paid for them. We depend on them. They must be properly cared for before it’s too late.
Remember, the park you save may be your own.
Chuck Anastas is the Chair of the Board of Directors, and Doug Pizzi is the Executive Director
The full list of the MCV Board of Directors is available here