On Monday, December 15th, The EPC was pleased to listen to a presentation by the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority. Its primary mission is to “acquire, manage, and protect large expanses of the region’s natural areas.

Bill Dickinson, the NVRPA board chairman and representative of Alexandria (one of the six jurisdictions the NVRPA operates in) stressed that parks play an important role in the promoting “green infrastructure” because they help citizens understand the critical connections between human activities and the natural environment. Through their conservation efforts and nature interpreters, the NVRPA has been able to educate its visitors about the interconnectivity between “gray infrastructure” (e.g. roads, sewers, buildings, etc.) and “green infrastructure” (e.g. parks, watersheds, rivers, wildlife preserves, etc.).

The NVRPA maintains 27 acres of parkland in Alexandria (Carlyle House and Cameron Run). It also owns three parks (Senca, Upton Hill, and the Washington and Old Dominion) that overlap jurisdictions. They have valuable experience cooperating and creating consensus with other county/city governments in the region and ensuring that NOVA receives its fair share from Richmond.