Arizona State Budget

Apache Junction weighs annexation of Lost Dutchman Park

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[Source: Arizona Republic, Jim Walsh, 1-27-2010] — Apache Junction officials are so worried about economic fallout from the planned closure of Lost Dutchman State Park that they are considering annexing the iconic landmark.  Apache Junction economic development director Steve Filipowicz said city officials are studying whether annexation would be feasible and whether it would make sense financially.  Annexing the park could keep it open and preserve the estimated $4 million in economic impact the park provides from tourism.

At minimum, annexation would serve as a justification for city police officers to patrol the park to discourage vandalism, Filipowicz said.  The move comes as cities, towns, counties and community groups from Flagstaff to Tubac are contemplating measures that would have been unthinkable only a few short years ago as they struggle to preserve some of Arizona’s natural and historic treasures in the face of deep budget cuts.  Reacting to the Legislature’s decision in December to cut $8.6 million from the state parks budget, the Arizona State Parks Board voted earlier this month to take the unprecedented step of closing 21 of the 30 parks in the state system.  [Note: To read the full article, click here.]

Opinion: Hope efforts work to keep Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park open

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[Source: Yuma Sun.com, Jesse Torres, 1-24-2010] — It was with great sadness I read that the Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park will be closing.  A brief history, if I may.  The Arizona Territorial Prison at Yuma operated for 33 years.  It was open from July 1876 to September 1909.  During this time, 3,069 convicts were housed in this institution, of which 29 convicts happened to be female.  A total of 111 prisoners met their death due to consumption, murder, being shot while trying to escape and accidents.  The remains of 104 are buried in the prison cemetery.

The prison was quite modern for its time.  It had electricity and phone service in 1885.  Unfortunately, Yuma Prison closed due to overcrowding.  It was moved to Florence, Arizona.  But the prison was still used by the Yuma community.  The superintendent’s residence was used as a county hospital and from 1910 to 1914 the prison hospital and shop buildings were used as Yuma High School.  It was also a haven for people during the Great Depression.  In the 1930’s Hollywood discovered the Yuma Territorial Prison and many movies were filmed there.

In 1941, Yuma Prison became a museum started by the city of Yuma.  Clarisa Windsor became the first curator.  In 1961 the Yuma Territorial Prison was handed over to Arizona State Parks and became our third state park.  [Note: To read the full letter to the editor, click here.]

Havens of nature, Arizona’s history fall to cuts

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[Source: Arizona Daily Star, Doug Kreutz, 1-24-2010] — Wildflower lovers might want to plan a farewell visit to Picacho Peak State Park this spring — even if it’s not a banner year for blooms.  The park, a mecca for fans of wildflower color, is scheduled to close June 3 — and officials don’t know.  “Voting to close these parks was one of the hardest moments of my life,” said Reese Woodling, a Tucson resident and chairman of the Arizona State Parks Board.  “I love Arizona and I love our parks.  To see this happening just makes me sick to my stomach.”  When, or if, it will reopen.

Picacho Peak, about 40 miles northwest of Tucson, is one of 13 state parks slated for closure in a phased sequence from Feb. 22 to June 3.  Other Southern Arizona parks closing their gates are Tubac Presidio State Historic Park, Tombstone Courthouse State Historic Park, Roper Lake State Park, and Lost Dutchman State Park.  The reason: a budget shortfall of $8.6 million.  [Note: To read the full article, click here.]

All but one Arizona state park in Pinal County will close

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[Source: Florence Reminder, Bonnie Bariola 1-21-2010] — Of the five Arizona State Parks located in Pinal County, only one is slated to remain open.  The reason being that in 1976 the Arizona State Parks Board entered into an agreement with the Boyce Thompson Arboretum Board and the University of Arizona to cooperatively manage the park.  All funding for the Arboretum from the Arizona State Parks Board will stop, leaving the Arboretum to be funded through the University of Arizona and the Boyce Thompson Foundation.

Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park: Located just west of Superior on US 60, the Arboretum was founded in the 1920s by mining magnate Col. William Boyce Thompson.  In 1917 Col. Thompson served as co-leader of a Red Cross mercy mission to Russia, where he came to understand the importance of plants as the ultimate source of a large portion of mankind’s food, clothing, and shelter.  It was then that he determined to use his great wealth to improve the use of plant resources.  The Arboretum is one of his legacies.

Encompassing 323 acres, the Arboretum is Arizona’s oldest and largest botanical garden.  It was the first purely botanical institution in the intermountain states.  Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park is the place to discover the intricate beauty and many faces of Arizona’s oldest and largest botanical garden.  Featured are plants from the world’s deserts, towering trees, captivating cacti, sheer mountain cliffs, a streamside forest, panoramic vistas, many natural habitats with varied wildlife, a desert lake, a hidden canyon, specialty gardens and more.  [Note: To read the full article, click here.]