Month: March 2009

Arizona State Parks board considers extra budget meeting

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The lodge at Tonto Natural Bridge State Park.

[Source: Pete Aleshire, Payson Roundup] — The state parks board may call a special meeting in March to sort through the smoking smolders of its budget, including the recently imposed closure of .  In addition, House Republicans this week will continue to push for an emergency law to let state parks and other agencies borrow $20 million from a voter-approved open space fund.

That leaves at least two approaches open for Rim Country officials, pushing hard to convince the parks board to reopen Tonto Natural Bridge, which draws more than 90,000 visitors annually to the region.

State parks officials said the main problem for Tonto Natural Bridge remains the need to limit access during critical repairs on a leaky roof that has caused structural problems.  “The access issue with the roof is still the primary question,” said Assistant Director Jay Ziemann. “ The principal question is the necessity to fix the lodge in a timely fashion, before we’re really looking at more rain that could end up desecrating the building.

The secondary issue is how soon could we get the public back in there based upon the need to get that lodge stabilized.”  [Note: To read the full article, click here.]

Arizona: State Park Schließungen erwogen

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Arizona's park woes covered in Germany.

{Frank Hennemann, Abgelegt unter Newsticker des Südwestens] — Wegen Kürzungen beim Budget des Bundesstaates Arizona werden Schließungen von mehreren State Parks in Betracht gezogen.  Die Arizona State Park Direktion hielt darüber ein öffentliches Meeting am Freitag, den 20.  Februar 2009 im Ratssaal des Peoria Stadtrates ab. Bei diesem Meeting versuchte die Park Direktion, bestehend aus sieben Freiwilligen, Optionen zur Begrenzung des per 30.  Juni 2009 zu erwartenden Defizites zu finden.

Einige Möglichkeiten, um die Verluste einzelner State Parks zu begrenzen, sind Kürzungen von Zuschüssen, Schließungen ausgewählter Parks, saisonale Schließungen, begrenzte Öffnungszeiten, Kürzungen bei den Versorgungsausgaben, Kündigungen oder der Transfer von Ausgaben auf andere Budgetpositionen. [Note: To read the full post, yes in German, click here.]

Arizona State Archives reopens “by appointment only”

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by-appointment-onlyThe Arizona State Archives will be open for research “by appointment only” every Tuesday from noon to 4 p.m. and every Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., except for emergencies.  Call 602-926-3720 between 10 a.m. and noon Monday through Friday to make an appointment.  Archives staff will continue to accept research requests from patrons, but the response times will be much longer.  For more information, click here.

4 condors to join wild flock at Vermilion Cliffs

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[Source: Ron Dungan, Arizona Republic] — Witness the release of four California condors at 11 a.m. Saturday at Vermilion Cliffs National Monument in northern Arizona. “Arizona is privileged to be home to one of only three wild California condor populations in the world, so residents and visitors to our state have a unique opportunity to watch this release,” said Kathy Sullivan, a condor biologist with the Arizona Game and Fish Department.

Condors were added to the federal endangered species list in 1967. In the 1980s, biologists captured the remaining 22 birds and started a captive-breeding program. Condors produced in captivity are periodically released to help expand the wild populations. [To read the full article, click here].