Arizona Heritage Alliance

Free state parks from Legislature

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[Source: Bill Meeks, Arizona State Parks Foundation, Arizona Republic Opinion] – When the Parks Heritage Fund was eliminated, the Legislature didn’t touch the $10 million Game & Fish Heritage Fund. Why? Because the hook and bullet crowd — the state’s 390,000 licensed fishermen and hunters — are a fearsome adversary.

In contrast, parks and open space advocates are almost invisible to lawmakers. More than 2 million people visit state parks every year, but we don’t know who most of them are or how to reach them.

So, how do we solve the disconnect between lawmakers and Arizona’s heritage?

We should eliminate it by vesting responsibility for today’s parks system and future open space needs in a state parks district not subject to legislative largesse. We can’t plan, build and operate a parks system the way we do now, lurching from one financial crisis to another.

Never mind the details now. Today, the Legislature probably would not refer such a measure to the voters. Getting it on the ballot as an initiative is a million-dollar proposition.

In the meantime, parks supporters need to seek out parks-minded legislative candidates by nailing down their views and commitments during the primary elections. The Arizona State Parks Foundation can assist in this process.

For its part, the foundation is working to vastly improve its social media capabilities in order to attract and motivate a larger corps of supporters and donors.

We are also working to establish a strong interface with the statewide business community. State parks are an economic engine contributing more than $260 million to the Arizona economy. They would contribute much more if they could operate on all cylinders.

Bill Meek is president of the non-profit Arizona State Parks Foundation headquartered in Phoenix.

Hands off the Heritage Fund, lawmakers

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[Source: Arizona Republic Editorial Board] – Lawmakers, show some respect for voters.

In 1990, Arizonans overwhelmingly approved the Heritage Fund, directing $10 million a year in Lottery revenue each to the Arizona Game and Fish Department and the Parks Department. This reflected a deep commitment to some of Arizona’s greatest resources: a rich history, diverse wildlife and dazzling natural landscapes.

The Legislature took the state parks’ share during the recession, and has unwisely rejected a number of efforts to restore that funding.

Now some of the Game and Fish share is at risk.

A portion of Game and Fish Heritage money is supposed to be spent on acquisition of land as habitat for threatened and endangered species. A strike-everything amendment to a House-passed bill would allow it to be used for operation and maintenance.

This goes against the “heart and soul” of what voters intended when they passed the Heritage initiative, says Beth Woodin, member of the Arizona Heritage Alliance and former Game and Fish commissioner.

What’s more, it’s sneaky.

This is a stealth effort to do something the public probably would not approve.

To that point, the altered bill was held in a Senate committee last week after it began to attract attention and opposition. It should disappear entirely.

If the Game and Fish department needs more money, let it ask for the funding. Then invite the Heritage Alliance and others who respect the spirit of this voter-approved law to be part of a discussion about what changes make sense.

Arizona Heritage Alliance Board Meets for Annual Meeting

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Say hello to the Arizona Heritage Alliance board of directors. You can’t see the others who were there via conference call! — with Peter Culp, Barbra Barnes, Jennifer Martin, Janice Miano, Matt Fesko, Margaret Bohannan, Bob White, Kathy Roediger, Bonnie Bariola, Beth Woodin, Bob Bohannan & Jim McPherson at the Flinn Foundation.

Group continues to work to restore Heritage Fund

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[Source: Bonnie Bariola, TriValleyCentral.com] – The Arizona Heritage Alliance continues working toward the reinstatement of the State Parks portion of the Heritage Fund. Heritage Alliance President Elizabeth Woodin said, “since the drastic, secretive removal of half of your Heritage Fund in March 2010 by state legislators, the diverse, enthusiastic, engaged, all-volunteer Arizona Heritage Alliance board and membership have been working ever-more vigorously to increase the visibility of the Heritage Fund to the citizens of Arizona, to protect the Fund and its objectives, and to devise a plan to recapture the plundered dollars and statutory language of the State Parks Heritage Fund.”

The Arizona Heritage Alliance was one of the leaders of the 2013 Environmental Day at the Arizona Capitol in February 2013. Meeting with several bipartisan legislators, Representative Ethan Orr (R-Tucson) agreed to introduce HB 2594, Local Transportation Assistance Fund; Restoration, which would have reinstated the State Parks Heritage Fund in its original form.

Also in February 2013, the House Energy, Environment & Natural Resources Committee made a motion that carried by a vote of 8-0-0-0; however, this measure was suppressed in the State House before it could even get a full debate.

In June of 2013, Arizona Heritage Alliance Board President Elizabeth Woodin and Board member Russ Jones (former legislator from Yuma) made a presentation to the Governor’s Natural Resources Review Council (NRRC) regarding the restoration of the State Parks Heritage Fund. They asked the NRRC to recommend to Governor Brewer to put this valuable program back into the state budget, especially the grant program.

Benefits to Florence

The Heritage Fund supplied valuable programs and resources for both Arizona visitors and especially jobs for residents. The Heritage Fund provides economic, environmental, education, tourism, and quality of life benefits that are far too important for this fund to be lost forever.

Florence residents have benefited from the Heritage Fund in the past because it provided grant funds for partial construction costs for: Heritage Park, Clarke House rehabilitation, Silver King Marketplace rehabilitation, Chapel of the Gila and Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church rehabilitation, True Value Hardware, 2nd Pinal County Courthouse, several private residences, and the Harvey/Niemeyer House.

Had a Heritage Fund Grant not been in place when the east wall of the Chapel of The Gila collapsed back in the early 1990s, it would have been lost forever. Also, if the Heritage Fund had not been available as the first grant assistance for the Florence Preservation Foundation (FPF), the Silver King/Florence Hotel would have been razed many years ago.  The Heritage Fund provided several Heritage Fund grants for the FPF during the stabilization of the building.

It is also thanks to the Heritage Fund, the FPF, and Donovan Kramer, Sr. for saving the very important Clarke House which is now home to the Florence Reminder and Blade Tribune newspaper.

Members of the Heritage Alliance continue to expand partnerships with historic preservation groups, Arizona League of Cities and Towns, Arizona Parks and Recreation Association, Arizona Forward and other appropriate organizations. Hopefully all of these activities are moving us closer to regaining the missing half of the Heritage Fund, which is an essential building block for a better and stronger quality of life and economic future for all Arizonans.

For additional information about the Arizona Heritage Alliance go to azheritage.org.

(Editor’s Note:  Bonnie Bariola is a member of the Arizona Heritage Alliance representing the Florence Preservation Foundation.)