Board votes to close 21 of 30 Arizona state parks by June

[Source: Casey Newton, Arizona Republic] — The Arizona State Parks Board voted unanimously Friday to begin shuttering state parks, a move that will leave the parks system with fewer than one third of its properties open by June 3.  In an emotional public meeting that lasted nearly six hours, parks-board members heard from dozens of residents from across the state, pleading to keep the parks open despite steep budget cuts.

Local elected officials warned of dire economic consequences to their towns.  Sheriff’s deputies said they will no longer be able to patrol some lakes.  Park volunteers offered to run the parks for free.  But board members said they had no choice but to close 21 of 30 parks and recreation areas following last month’s special session of the Legislature, in which $8.6 million was cut from their budget.  That was on top of $34 million in cuts in the previous year.  “Unfortunately, we don’t have options,” said Walter Armer, a member of the board.

Among the most popular parks slated for closure are Roper Lake, which drew 86,000 visitors in 2008, and Picacho Peak, which drew more than 98,000.  The parks that will remain open generate revenue for the system, such as Slide Rock and Kartchner Caverns.  The parks system records more than 2.2 million total visits a year, according to the Arizona State Parks Department.  Armer added that the board would work to reopen the parks as soon as it had the funds to do so.

Several proposals are making the rounds in the Legislature, including one that would add a roughly $9 fee to the cost of registering a vehicle.  The money would pay for park operations, and Arizonans would then be able to get into any state park without paying an additional fee.  The proposal with the most support at the moment would refer the question of whether to impose that fee to voters, said Jay Ziemann, the department’s legislative liaison.

Wittmann resident Chrissy Kondrat-Smith took her daughter, Sydney, to every state park one recent summer.  The 4,000-mile journey inspired Sydney to become a junior park ranger at Red Rock State Park, which is slated to close.  Sydney, 8, recorded a video letter to Santa Claus over the holidays, asking him to keep the parks open.  Sydney began crying when she learned the parks would close.  She couldn’t understand why the parks can’t stay open with volunteer labor, her mother said.

Others expressed concern about what will happen to the parks once staff members aren’t around to protect them. Although the parks board does intend the closed parks to be patrolled, it remains unclear how many staffers will be available.

Charles Adams, a professor of archaeology at the University of Arizona, warned that closed parks would become magnets for vandals and thieves.  Adams expressed particular concern for the Homolovi Ruins, an archaeological treasure that was brought into the parks system in part to protect it from theft.  “There is great concern in the archaeological community as some of these close,” Adams told the board.  “They are extremely vulnerable.”

As the meeting concluded, members of the parks staff received word that Gov. Jan Brewer’s budget proposal released Friday would make further reductions to the parks budget, which could make Arizona the first state in the nation to close its entire parks system.  “We have a huge collective fight on our hands,” said Arlan Colton, a member of the board.  “And that’s our fight for survival.”  [Note: To read the full article, visit Board votes to close 21 of 30 Arizona state parks by June.]

Widow’s hefty donation to Arizona parks is poached

[Source: Casey Newton, Arizona Republic] — In their latest effort to solve Arizona’s budget crisis with cuts, lawmakers turned to a woman who couldn’t make a fuss.  After all, she has been dead for eight years.  Alta Forest, a Danish immigrant who fell in love with Arizona after moving to Fountain Hills with her husband, left nearly $250,000 to the Arizona State Parks Board when she died of cancer at age 82.

When parks officials received the money in 2003, it was the largest private donation the parks system had ever received.  They were unprepared for such a large gift, said Ken Travous, who served as state-parks director for 23 years before retiring in June.  “We had never received anything of that magnitude before,” he said, adding that he began “looking for something that was big enough to really make her proud.”

While parks officials considered what to do with the money, Arizona’s budget deficit ballooned into the billions.  Last month, when the Republican-led Legislature met in special session to cut $140 million from the budget, it swept up half the money in the parks system’s donations fund, which included most of Forest’s donation.  “It was like they had kicked me in the stomach,” Travous said.  “Surely, I thought, they have some shame.  But they’re shameless.”  [Note: Read the full article at Widow’s hefty donation to Arizona parks is poached.]

Which Arizona state parks will close?

Horse's patootie (read the article and you'll understand)

[Source: Howard Fischer, Capitol Media Services/Arizona Daily Star] — The decision by lawmakers last month to take funds from the parks system means some will be closed later this year, the director of the agency said Thursday.  The only question that remains, Renee Bahl said, is which ones.  Bahl said the system, which already gets no direct taxpayer dollars, is being crippled because of the legislative action to take away a chunk of the funds they get from other sources.  That includes not only the fees paid by those who go to the parks but also special funds raised, such as assessments on registration of boats and off-road vehicles.  The bottom line, she said, is that her agency will have $7.5 million to spend rather than the $19 million it had planned for the fiscal year that began last July 1.

Bahl said she will make specific recommendations to the board on which parks to close in two weeks.  But she outlined the criteria her staff will use — criteria that are likely to be bad news for the smallest and least-used of the parks.  One of the most important, she said, is which make money or, at the very least, don’t lose a lot.  Bahl said that makes the most sense, as the cash from those parks might eventually be enough to reopen one or more of those shut down.

Topping the list of money producers is Kartchner Caverns, near Benson, followed by Slide Rock and Lake Havasu state parks.  Catalina State Park, north of Tucson, brings in about $193,000 more a year than it costs to operate.  But the parks system also is populated with sites that bleed red ink.  Topping that list is Tonto Natural Bridge near Payson, where costs exceed revenues by $541,000.  Red Rock State Park at Sedona operates on a $190,000-a-year loss, with six-digit deficits at Tubac Presidio, Picacho Peak, Homolovi Ruins, and the Riordan Mansion in Flagstaff.

Bahl said, though, that the board will have to consider other factors when deciding which parks should be shut down.  “There are one-time costs like fencing, or if we needed to add a security system to a building or board something up,” she said.  “And we’re still going to need to keep an eye on it after that, checking it both for fire hazards and seeing if there’s any trespassing.”

Several board members, given the news, lashed out at lawmakers for taking the funds, even after being told at hearings last month that it will mean shutting parks.  “We have people in the Legislature who don’t believe state parks should exist,” Tracey Westerhausen complained.  She said the best thing that those who want the parks system could do is go out this year and elect different people.

Board Chairman Reese Woodling said the parks bring in more in tax dollars from visitors to communities than the cost. He said that message seems lost on lawmakers.  But board member Arlan Colton said it’s not that they don’t understand.  He said that, facing a multibillion-dollar deficit, “I don’t really think they give a horse’s patootie” about the effect of taking a couple of million dollars from the parks system.

Woodling said he and Bahl spoke with Gov. Jan Brewer earlier this week.  He said the governor, who signed the legislation authorizing taking the money, was sympathetic but offered no answers.  “I’m just sick to my stomach,” he said.  Brewer had no choice but to approve raiding the funds, said her spokesman, Paul Senseman.  “The Legislature has been unable to muster enough support for a deficit-reduction plan,” he said.

But Senseman said Brewer is unwilling, at least at this point, to endorse the recommendation of a task force she formed to create a “sustainable” park system: put an optional $15 surcharge on the registration fees for all vehicles in this state.  The fees would raise enough to keep the system operating, with motorists who paid the extra cash getting free admission all year to every state park.  “The governor believes it ought to be discussed in a very serious fashion,” Senseman said of the recommendation.  [Note: To read the full article, visit Which Arizona state parks will close?]

Arizona treasurer says changes needed for state budget to be fixed

[Source: Parker Pioneer, John Gutekunst, 10-8-2009] — Arizona State Treasurer Dean Martin said he hated to be the bearer of bad news when he spoke Wednesday evening at the Parker Community/Senior Center.  He said the state is broke, and he said bad decisions on the part of state officials had more to do with this than the recession.  He added the problems won’t be fixed without some fundamental changes in how the state does business.

Martin described his job as the banker for the state.  He manages the state’s funds and investments.  His office also handles investments for the state’s counties and municipalities.  Prior to being elected Treasurer, Martin served in the Arizona Senate, where he chaired the Finance Committee.  He said he felt frustrated by the lack of long-term planning and the fact there was no “early warning” system for when budget problems were on the horizon.

After he was elected Treasurer in 2006, Martin decided to see if the difference between daily revenue and daily expenditures could be an indicator of the state’s economic health.  By researching records back to 1990, Martin said the difference grew during the good times but dropped in bad times.  During the recession of 2001-02, the numbers actually were negative.  They became positive again as the economy improved.  [Note: To read the full article, click here.]