State Parks

New Marina Proposed for Lake Havasu State Park

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[Source: Nathan Brutell, Today’s News-Herald]

State Parks officials announce Contact Point plan

Plans to build marina, boat launch could cost $20 million

This map shows a new development plan for Contact Point. Submitted Illustration.

It could cost more than $20 million to relieve the congestion at Lake Havasu State Park.

Arizona State Parks officials announced a proposed development plan for Contact Point Thursday evening at the Community Center to build a new marina, two six-lane public launch ramps, storage for more than 200 boats, parking for more than 1,000 vehicles and nearly a dozen other improvements. The park could cost “a minimum of $20 million,” said Renee Bahl, executive director of Arizona State Parks. Bahl added that State Parks officials plan to seek private funding for the park.

“This idea came about a long time ago, but it’s time to get it on the ground and get the discussion going,” Bahl said at the meeting, adding that initial discussions on Contact Point improvements began nearly 15 years ago. “Marina development in the Contact Point area is exactly what the people want and what the city needs for the local economic impact.”

Currently Contact Point, which is located southwest of Lake Havasu City and south of Thompson Bay, features little development, officials said. The Water Safety Center in Contact Point is at 1801 State Route 95, which is situated on the lakeside of the highway south of Body Beach.

Developing the Contact Point area would allow for more recreational opportunities, including proposed campgrounds, multi-use parks and picnic tables, and a riparian area (or refined ecosystem), officials said. But development also would accomplish a growing need to provide relief to Lake Havasu State Park.

“We know there is a great demand for access to the water on the south side of the city,” Bahl said. “You can just tell by the lines at Lake Havasu State Park waiting to get in, so there is obviously a demand for more access to the water.”

Lake Havasu State Park is Arizona’s most visited state park with more than 350,000 visitations in 2010, according to data provided by Arizona State Parks. Charlie Cassens, city manager for Lake Havasu City, agreed that relief is needed.

“I don’t think there’s anybody in the city that would object to (the development plans),” Cassens said. “Anyone who’s sat in line for more than an hour waiting to launch their boat knows we do need more access to the Lake.”

Contact Point is located just east of a proposed city plan nicknamed the “Havasu 280” project. The Bureau of Land Management recently completed an environmental assessment on the proposed Recreation and Public Purposes lease of 280 acres of public lands to Lake Havasu City. Development on the proposed Havasu 280 project is waiting for the completion of a national review process.

“(The Contact Point proposal) works in concert with the Havasu 280 project and the plans we have for the 280 with respect to public recreation,” Cassens said.

The two biggest hurdles in the way of the Contact Point plan will come in the form of financing and land acquisition, officials said.

“At the moment, State Parks does not have the financial resources to move forward with this,” said Ray Warriner, State Parks acquisition and planning manager. “We’ll more than likely have to take on a partner.”

Warriner said he’s currently working with state BLM officials on ensuring property and land rights on the project.

“It looks like for this property we may have to change our land rights,” Warriner said. “Right now we have deeded land and an R&PP lease and patented land. … It has to stay in a parks type of use.”

BLM Lake Havasu Field Manager Ramone McCoy said discussions on land rights would occur at the state level but also said BLM is “supportive of state parks.”

“A lot of what they’ve proposed (tonight) was in the original development plan, so we’ve already bought off on the plan,” McCoy said. “In order for them to put in a marina, they’re talking about a commercial lease, which would alter the current R&PP.”

Following the meeting, officials agreed that if the land acquisition and financing hurdles are overcome, development could begin on the project in one to five years.

“Before we can move forward with the plan, we need to make sure everyone is OK with the plan,” Warriner said.

Residents with questions and comments are asked to contact Arizona State Parks at www.AZStateParks.com. Information from the meeting, as well as maps of the proposed development plan, are set to go online in the next few days, officials said.

You can contact the reporter at [email protected]

Fort Verde gets a new roof

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[Source: Steve Ayers,  Camp Verde Bugle]

VVN/Steve Ayers

Your typical household roofing job will run in the neighborhood of $5,000 to $10,000, depending on the size of the house and the material of choice.

But if the roof you are replacing is made of shake shingles and happens to protect a 140-year-old adobe building, the costs can go considerably higher.

Such is the case with the roofing job at Fort Verde. Starting last week and continuing for the next month or so crews are replacing the cedar shingles on the four remaining builds and putting new asphalt shingles on the restrooms.

The cost of the project is $185,000.

“We were very fortunate to receive some of the last of the Heritage Fund money that was not swept by the Legislature,” says Park Manager Sheila Stubler.

The Commanding Officer’s Quarters, the one with the Mansard roof, will be the most expensive, costing about $55,000.

The historic records show that the original cedar shingles came from the Black Hills, south and west of the fort and were made at the Army’s saw mill located in the community of Cherry.

The red cedar shingles were brought in from British Columbia

This time the clear heartwood red cedar shingles had to be brought in from British Columbia.

“The buildings are on the National Historic Register of Historic Places, so any work has to conform to the Department of the Interior guidelines,” says Margy Parisella, a project manager and architect with Arizona State Parks.

That means they have to be the same product, same size and the same spacing.

The final look will be the same but this time the nearly 50,000 shingles will be applied with the latest and greatest methods and materials.

According to Dan Settle with Brown and Sons Roofing, the contractor on the project, they will apply an additional layer of breather material before nailing in the shingles.

“I had never seen the material until about five years ago,” says Settle. “It has become pretty popular back East where they see a lot more moisture. We are putting it on because we believe it will extend the life of the shingles by allowing air to pass beneath them.”

Prior to the roofers showing up, a group of local volunteers led by George Dvorak donated over 650 hours replacing the wood around all the dormers, fixing cracked window panes, painting and rebuilding the old shutters.

According to Stubler, the project should be completed by the end of March, weather permitting.

Still in crisis: the hits keep on coming for state parks

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[Source: Parks & Recreation, by Richard J. Dolesh. Via: BNET]

The National Bureau of Economic Research, in a tortured bit of logic, declared in September that “the Recession is over.” Few observers of state and local economic conditions would agree, and the continuing cuts to the budgets of U.S. state park systems reflect the harsh reality that for the states, the recession is definitely not over. As state budget troubles continue, the outlook for most state park systems remains grim.

According to the recently released Biannual Fiscal Survey of the States of the National Governor’s Association and the National Association of State Budget Officers, revenues may have grown slightly in the past six months, but the lingering effects of the two worst years since the Great Depression have seriously compromised the ability of many states to provide traditional services to their citizens. The NGA report predicts states will continue to make budget cuts, including additional mid-stream cuts throughout FY 11, and asserts that to balance state budgets, states will either cut programs and services further or shift their costs to user fees or other sources of revenue.

Less than Stimulating Double-Whammy

Compounding the stagnant state economies is the double-whammy of the loss of federal stimulus funds. According to NGA, the federal funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 that helped states pay teachers, fund state construction projects, and supplement law enforcement operations, increased the total federal share of states’ budgets from one quarter to one-third of their total budgets The stimulus ended January 1, and there is little sentiment in the U.S. Congress to provide additional bail-outs for the states and cities.

As if that were not enough, the near-term picture looks no better because many states are carrying huge debt loads from unfunded liabilities, such as pension obligations or debt service. California, Illinois, New Jersey, and New York top this list, but a number of other states are not far behind.

The cumulative effect of the state budget troubles has damaged many state park systems. Arizona state parks are facing the abyss with the state legislature having wiped out nearly two-thirds of the state parks budget in the past several years, laying off state park workers and closing a number of state parks, with more on the block in the coming fiscal year. California’s governor last year proposed closing up to 220 of 279 state parks when the legislature could not pass the state budget. Though Arnold Schwarzenegger quickly backed down in the face of fierce public reaction, funding for the state parks hangs by a thread. The resounding rejection last November of Prop 21 in California, a ballot measure to create a new vehicle registration fee that would have been dedicated to the state park system, has left supporters chagrined and the future of California state parks deeply uncertain.

In New York, a budget agreement by the legislature and the governor reversed the planned closure of more than 100 state parks; but recently, its governor announced another state park closure due to continuing budget troubles. In the coming year, Nevada and Idaho may be looking at closing state parks. Illinois, New Jersey, and other states may not be far behind.

No More Magic Bullets

What was once unthinkable–the closure of state parks because of budget shortfalls–has rapidly become a reality in many states.

The longer-term implications of the present state budget troubles do not bode well for the future health of many state park systems. Beset by an aging workforce, deteriorating infrastructure, and a growing maintenance backlog, a number of state park systems are turning to a variety of scorched earth policies to hold on. These include reducing staff, limiting hours of operation, reducing law enforcement patrol, and temporarily or permanently closing facilities within parks. Some systems have already begun to implement plans to privatize or lease state parks and this is a trend that is expected to grow. Others are planning to lease state parks to local governments or nonprofit organizations, and some are considering plans to contract operations of entire state parks to private management companies.

Phil McNelly, executive director of the National Association of State Parks, notes that there will be 29 new governors taking office this month, the largest cohort of new governors in generations. “Change is imminent, no matter which party takes control,” McNelly predicts.

The new realities facing state parks include the serious issues of increased liability and risk management due to the reduced ability to provide law enforcement; the continuing deterioration of park infrastructure such as roads, bridges, buildings, and other public safety concerns; increasing revenues to supplement operating funds when there is little or no prospect of capital funding for upgrading facilities that do produce revenue.

Bright Spots

While most of the news about state parks remains bleak, there are some bright spots on the horizon. Some states have dealt with the crisis better than others because they have taken innovative approaches to creating long-term sustainable funding mechanisms. Although the California ballot measure to dedicate funds from a vehicle state park pass failed, in Michigan, a more modest proposal based on a similar program in Montana, passed the legislature and is expected to generate between $20 million and $40 million in dedicated funds for the state park system. A crucial difference between Michigan’s program and California’s proposal is that Michigan’s is voluntary, In Michigan, a state resident can opt in to pay for the annual pass; California’s would have been mandatory. Post-election surveys in California note that voters objected to “ballot-box budgeting,” rejecting Prop 21 by a 60 percent to 40 percent margin.

Recent developments in Georgia offer a good example for a sustainable path to long-term funding for state parks, Faced with a crushing 46 percent cut in general funds since 2008. Georgia state parks were directed by the governor and legislature to “pursue a strategy of self-sufficiency,” according to state park director Becky Kelley. The state park system responded with a business plan entitled “Direction 2015” which identifies 60 park sites for study over the next three years through evaluating needs, analyzing capacity, and producing business plans for each park in order to bring these sites to full self-sufficiency. “We are trying to transition to the future while protecting and enhancing our natural and cultural assets in a way that is sensitive to the needs of local communities, promotes local economies, and is responsive to protecting our treasured resources,” Kelley says.

An analysis of the economic benefit of the Georgia state park system by state economic development office shows over $650 million in economic benefit to the state and 7,000-8,000 jobs that are dependent on or related to the state parks. “We need to take control of our own destiny,” Kelley says, “There are no longer any magic bullets.”

Other states are implementing similar plans to increase the ability of the state parks to generate revenues through fees and charges. They are increasingly engaging outside consultants from the private sector in golf, hospitality, and other fields, and are engaging the support of elected officials and local governments to tangibly show the extraordinary economic value of parks to the state’s economy.

Ever Popular by any Measure

Despite the negative projections for state parks funding over the short term, public support for parks and conservation remains high, Visitation to state and local parks continues to grow, while the recent passage of a dedicated tax in Iowa for conservation and the continuing 75 percent rate of passage for bond issues and referenda related to parks and open space across the country demonstrates resounding public support for parks. Such support is crucial, as recent events in Virginia have shown. When incoming governor Bob McDonnell announced the closing of five state parks shortly after taking office, the Virginia Association for Parks and other citizen advocacy groups turned the governor’s opinion around, a development that led ultimately to the rescinding of closures and a modest increase in the state parks’ budget.

The worst may yet be to come for state park budgets over the next few years, but park systems that can demonstrate resiliency and innovation by improving their ability to generate revenues and by building the highest possible level of public support will weather this current storm.

RICHARD J. DOLESH is NRPA Chief of Public Policy.

Help rename Homolovi State Park

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[Source: Scott Kilbury, KOLD]

Arizona could soon name a new State park.  It’s land that  already has the state park designation but operating under a different name.

According to the Arizona Parks Board, the state recently entered into a contract agreement with the Hopi Tribe for the operation of Homolovi Ruins State Park.

With the pending State Parks/Hopi Tribe partnership to launch the grand re-opening of this park on March 18, the State Parks Board has directed staff to seek public comment regarding dropping the word “Ruins” from the name of the park as requested by the Hopi Tribe.

The State Parks Board is open to any suggestions the public may have to offer about this name change and will discuss this at the March 17, 2011 public Board meeting in Winslow City Council Chambers.

Public suggestions about changing the name of the State Park may be directed to the Arizona State Parks website “Comments” section at AZStateParks.com or letters can be mailed to Arizona State Parks Public Information Office, 1300 West Washington Street, Phoenix, AZ  85007.  All comments must be received by March 1.

These Hopi ancestral villages at Homolovi Ruins State Park include four major pueblos, numerous smaller structures and site features ranging in size from one-room pithouses or simple artifact scatters to a 1200-room pueblo, and panels of petroglyphs with numerous depictions of katcina and clan symbols. The sites date from AD 620-850; AD 1050-1225; and AD 1260-1400.

For more information about the Arizona’s State Parks Board Homolovi Grand Re-opening, the State Historic Preservation Office or State Parks recreational grant programs, call toll-free at 800-285-0373 or visit the website.