Arizona State Parks Board

Tucson group’s black-tie ball strives to make up for raided Arizona Heritage Fund grant

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[Source: Loni Nannini, Arizona Daily Star] — In Tucson, they are the hostesses with the mostest: The Silver & Turquoise Board of Hostesses throws a party with purpose.   Over the past 16 years, the Mission San Xavier del Bac has been the sole beneficiary of more than $325,000 in proceeds from the Board of Hostesses’ annual Silver & Turquoise Ball.

Their commitment to restoration of the mission is just one example of the 50 active members’ dedication to the community, according to Ginny Healy, chairwoman of the upcoming ball and 11-year veteran of the non-profit Board of Hostesses.   “The women I have worked with at the Board of Hostesses are some of the most outstanding women in the community.  You see their professional accomplishments and contributions through volunteer service everywhere around Tucson,” said Healy, senior director of development for the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences and the Colleges of Letters, Arts and Science at the University of Arizona.

The Board of Hostesses was created 59 years ago to promote, support and encourage the preservation of Tucson’s historical traditions and diverse cultural heritage.  The ball originated as a potluck thank-you for volunteers of the now-defunct Tucson Festival Society, which staged events such as Pioneer Days, La Parada de los Niños and the Children’s Writing and Art Festival.  The potluck soon moved to the Arizona Inn at the urging of proprietor Isabella Greenway and has remained there since.  Healy believes the location, the history and the compelling cause culminate in Tucson’s most enjoyable ball.   “It is really just a party to celebrate people who have volunteered in the community and the work they have done.  It is for people to sit back and enjoy themselves and has really become one of Tucson’s great traditions,” said Healy, who is producing a documentary on the ball with director and co-producer LuisCarlos Romero Davis.

Healy said support of the mission remains a motivating factor, particularly because $150,000 in state funding for the ongoing $7 million-plus restoration was cut on Feb. 2.   The grant had been awarded through Arizona State Parks Heritage Fund, which set aside proceeds from the Arizona Lottery to fund historical restoration projects and trail management.  The money was slated for work on the east tower, where continued water damage could eventually threaten the structural integrity and damage interior artwork.  “Originally those (Heritage) funds were voter-approved, and I don’t think voters approved what the state is doing with them now.  We can’t start work on the tower until we have more funds available,” said Vern Lamplot, executive director of the Patronato San Xavier, a non-profit corporation dedicated to preservation of the mission.

In his appeal for support of the mission, Lamplot emphasized its cultural and historic value as one of the original 10 structures on the National Register of Historic Places and its bankability as a major tourist attraction that hosts more than 250,000 worldwide visitors annually.  [Note: To read the full article, click here.]

Arizona’s Homolovi Ruins State Park remains open at present

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Homolovi II is the largest of the sites at Homolovi Ruins State Park (Photo: Arizona State Parks)

[Source: Tammy Gray-Searles, AZJournal.com] — Homolovi and Lyman Lake State Parks got a reprieve last Friday as the State Parks and Recreation Board decided not to close any additional state parks until at least the next fiscal year, which begins in July.   The board met April 3 to discuss ways to balance the 2008-09 fiscal year budget, which was subject to significant cuts by the state. The board determined that, at least for now, parks on the potential closure list could remain open.  Other cuts to balance the budget have been and will continue to be made, however, including halting capital projects, a number of grant contracts and personnel reductions.  [Note: To read the full article, click here.]

State budget crisis force Arizona State Parks to reduce days/hours

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[Source: KPHO Television, Phoenix] — The Arizona State Parks board meeting on Friday, April 3, resulted in operational changes for some parks in the Arizona State Parks system.  At this meeting, the seven-member volunteer Parks Board passed a motion to allow the agency to reduce the days and hours of operation for the parks.  This will ease the stress of trying to keep parks open seven days a week while dealing with a 26% reduction in ranger staff.  Some of the consequences to a $34.5 million sweep in funds from various conservation-funded accounts and agency gate fees, include: suspending community grants, reduced park hours/days of operation, reduced supply purchasing, less vehicles, layoffs, and canceling special projects and programs statewide.

“In order to keep the parks as accessible to the public as possible with this reduction in force, we will begin shortening weeks starting April 14-15 in Yuma,” said Jay Ream, Assistant Director.  “Both Yuma Territorial Prison and Yuma Quartermaster Depot will be open Thursday through Monday and closed Tuesday and Wednesdays with daily hours of 9am-5pm.”

“Tubac Presidio State Historic Park and Tombstone Courthouse State Historic Park will have the same Thursday-Monday schedule with April 21-22 being the first days closed,” Ream said.  “Fort Verde State Historic Park will switch to this schedule starting on May 5-6.  Oracle State Park will begin its Thursday-Monday schedule starting on May 9-10.  All of the daily park hours will be 9am-5pm.”

“We have already lost much of the workforce and I need to move the experienced rangers to the parks that need the help right away,” said Ream.  “The danger we are facing is losing some of our experienced and highly trained rangers who would be almost impossible to replace.  Unlike one skill other organizations would hire for, the State Parks are required to be run by people with a multitude of high level skills.  These hybrid job descriptions include trained and certified as law enforcement officers, emergency medical training, wildland firefighters, crowd control, search and rescue, interpretation, natural resources, water and wastewater treatment certification, all of the skills in construction and maintenance, trail construction, research, and artifact management.  These rangers must also have specific training for dangerous situations in wild country.  These are not easy people to replace.  They are the best of the best in these fields and highly recruited because of their multiple talents.

“Some of our “super rangers” are actually trained and skilled in every category I’ve mentioned,” said Ream.  “They are committed to State Parks despite demanding training requirements and relatively low pay.”  [Note: To read the full article, click here.]

For more information about Arizona State Parks, call 602-542-4174 (outside of the Phoenix metro area call toll-free 800-285-3703 or visit their website.

Six Arizona state parks move to 5-day schedules as state budget crisis continues

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[Source: Associated Press] — The Arizona State Parks board on Friday announced reduced days and hours of operations at six parks as part of a cost-cutting plan.  Assistant Director Jay Ream says Yuma Territorial Prison park and Yuma Quartermaster Depot park will be open Thursday through Monday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. and closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays starting April 14.  Ream says Tubac Presidio State Historic Park and Tombstone Courthouse State Historic Park will have the same Thursday-Monday schedule from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. starting April 21 with Fort Verde State Historic Park switching to that shortened schedule on May 5 and Oracle State Park doing the same on May 9.

After state lawmakers made budget cuts in January, the Parks Board authorized park officials to close individual parks up to two days a week.  Ream says the parks also are dealing with a 26 percent reduction in ranger staff.  [Note: To read the full article, click here.]