Arrigo has big challenge ahead at DCR
Kathy Abbott | Opinion, Commonwealth Magazine | May 9, 2023
https://commonwealthmagazine.org/opinion/arrigo-has-big-challenge-ahead-at-dcr/
WHAT’S IT LIKE having the job as commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation? Ask a budget analyst on Beacon Hill and you’ll get an answer like: Manage a $250 million annual capital and operating budget, 500,000 acres of beaches, parks, and forests, and more than 600 miles of historic parkways ringing Greater Boston. Be responsible for hiring more than 600 lifeguards each season; combat invasive species threatening native wildlife; manage skating rinks, swimming pools, campgrounds, playgrounds, and 3,000 miles of hiking and biking trails; while also supplying safe clean drinking water to more than 2.5 million people each day in Metropolitan Boston.
And do all of this while inviting more than 26 million annual visitors to enjoy the state properties you are charged with stewarding.
All true, and all in a day’s work, but we’d say a better and more inspiring answer might be: To help people all across Massachusetts live happier, healthier lives, with equitable and inclusive access to beautiful natural places to play, rest, and recharge.
DCR’s 500,000 acres also help our state mitigate and manage the worst impacts of our climate crisis and serve as a tourist attractor year around that creates jobs and provides tax dollars. Our parks and public lands can also help to address critical issues of our day, from public health to racial and economic disparities, all while contributing to building community.
That’s the challenge, and also the enormous opportunity, in front of Revere Mayor Brian Arrigo as he takes the helm at DCR. He has led the city that is home to America’s first public beach, Revere Beach, and built a sterling track record for planning, infrastructure investment, and improvements to city services. Arrigo brings the personal and professional experience needed for achieving success at the agency.
Despite being the steward of fully a tenth of the entire land mass of our Commonwealth and many of our most popular, historic, and iconic properties, DCR has been understaffed, underfunded, and, therefore, underperforming since its inception.
Thankfully, in the Healey-Driscoll administration, we have a governor and a lieutenant governor who understand that a well-run, properly funded DCR is critical to creating “happy, healthy communities” and a climate-resilient and economically competitive state. Healey’s administration has already stepped up with a recommended 12 percent increase in the agency’s budget for the year starting July 1. That includes several million dollars to begin addressing the colossal backlog of maintenance needs at hundreds of our state’s parks. We will be watching and advocating to ensure that the 12 percent budget increase translates into properly funded positions along with new staff, programs, and projects.
Something that has always been true, but we learned even more profoundly during the worst years of the COVID-19 pandemic, is what a critical role well-run and inviting parks can play in supporting people’s physical, mental, and social health—especially those living in the most congested and economically struggling neighborhoods where nature and open spaces are often at a premium. Places with fresh air and room to move aren’t nice to have; they are must-haves from the Berkshires to Boston and every city and town throughout the Commonwealth.
From urban oases to state forests to conservation lands that protect water supplies for over 4 million Massachusetts residents, the DCR can play a pivotal role in making Massachusetts more resilient to the impacts of climate change from extreme heat to damaging storms by planting and nurturing millions of trees and healthy ecosystems, including in city neighborhoods where they can save residents from the worst of urban heat islands, storm water, and coastal flooding.
Our hope is that Healey, Arrigo, Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rebecca Tepper, and the entire team won’t only think bigger about what the agency can accomplish, but also commit to continuing to invest making ours the best state park system in the country, then plan and build a successful 21st century Commonwealth grounded in the advantages that DCR provides.
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