State park closures take toll on Arizona towns

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[Source: Parker Leavitt, Arizona Republic] — The budget-cut-induced closure of two popular state parks is taking an economic toll on businesses in Jerome and Payson.  Jerome State Historic Park and Tonto Natural Bridge State Park were closed Feb. 26 after the state Legislature cut more than $34 million in park funds to help fill budget gaps.

The park in Jerome remains shuttered.  Tonto Natural Bridge has reopened, but only on weekends. Consequently, hotel bookings have slowed, and shops and restaurants see fewer customers, while a recent Northern Arizona University study suggests the closures could cost the regions several million dollars in annual park-driven revenues.  “There is no question that people up here feel the loss,” Jerome Chamber of Commerce President Tom Pitts said.  “There’s a big hole in the experience here.”

Jerome, Arizona’s smallest incorporated town, is home to an eclectic mix of art galleries, wineries and historic sites.  The state park was a major draw for the community’s tourism industry, helping to lure more than 60,000 visitors in 2008.  “People make traveling decisions based on what they’re going to do when they get here,” said Anne Conlin, owner of the Connor Hotel in Jerome.  “(Guests now) book maybe a one-night stay instead of a two-night stay. Or they just don’t come at all.”

The park includes the historic Douglas Mansion, built in 1916, antique mining attractions and a picnic area with views of the region’s mountains.  [Note: To read the full article, click here]

Approved Arizona state parks budget called ‘not sustainable’

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[Source: Florence Reminder] — “Today (Monday) the Board approved the 2010 operating budget down from $26 million to $19.3 million,” State Parks Board Chair Reese Woodling said.  “All of that money now is coming from conservation taxes and park-earned monies with none from the state’s General Fund budget.  This is not a sustainable budget to keep the parks and programs operating, so we have hard decisions about how to fund each one.”

“This $19M is also contingent on the enactment of the Budget Reconciliation Bill which would authorize the agency to use certain special funds for normal operating. Heritage Fund grants were recommended to be reinstated, but that is also contingent upon a favorable Joint Legislative Budget Committee review to allow internal fund transfers,” said Woodling.

“Now our staff will be looking for all different types of partners to keep the parks open in these rural communities.  In September our staff will be presenting scenarios for salvaging the state parks and programs.  We will have to drastically reduce our expenses to meet the extremely low budget presented today,” said Renée Bahl, the State Parks executive director. [Note: To read the full article, click here]

Viewpoint: Arizona State Parks won’t get blood from a turnip

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[Source: Camp Verde Bugle] — Arizona State Parks is more money-strapped than ever before under the new operating budget, but if the department is going to rely on supplemental funding from the communities it serves, state parks will be dropping like flies.  Payson somehow found the money to help keep Tonto Natural Bridge State Park open on weekends this summer, and there was a similar situation in Yuma.  The reality is, most towns next to state parks are not floating in spare cash.  You know what they say about getting blood from a turnip.

Arizona State Parks has heightened its call for help beyond your basic volunteers.  They want cash.  They would especially like funds from local towns.  It has a selling job to do in order to winkle money out of penny-pinching municipalities.  There has to be viable proof of value to the town.  If, for instance, the Town of Camp Verde found some extra coins in its linty pockets and dedicated it to a Fort Verde fund, would there really be a return on its investment?  Or would it be a stop-gap measure to allow the park to hang on just a little longer?

Fort Verde is an example of a park that could do with a real concrete partnership with the Town of Camp Verde.  Fort Verde has already cut operation hours and staff, and more cuts would come hard.  Governmental partnerships are key to financial survival at this stage.  [Note: To read the full article, click here]

Viewpoint: Arizona’s heritage? What heritage?

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[Source: Editor, Phoenix Magazine] — State Parks officials announced Monday that they would be cutting the budget for Arizona parks even further, tapping special funds that were earmarked for park maintenance and conservation because the state Legislature has throttled way back on its direct support.  The agency’s 2010 operating budget was officially pared down from $26 million to $19.3 million.  It is contingent upon the Legislature’s renewal of special Heritage Fund grants, which support programs and places that are considered to be among the most Arizona-centric stuff in the state.

But if history is a lesson, that may be a long shot. Lawmakers have been raiding the voter-restricted Heritage Funds to pay off the state’s massive $3 billion-and-counting budget deficit.  This left behind a huge mess, which Phoenix Magazine columnist Jana Bommersbach outlined in her June 2009 column titled “(Un)Clean Sweep.”

State Parks Executive Director Renée Bahl, who left San Diego County parks and took office last month, said in a recent press release that Arizona parks are seeking volunteers (and given these types of cutbacks, we’re talking much more than monthly cleanups next to dry stream beds, folks).  “Now our staff will be looking for all different types of partners to keep the parks open in these rural communities,” Bahl said in a prepared statement.  “In September, our staff will be presenting scenarios for salvaging the State Parks and programs.  We will have to drastically reduce our expenses to meet the extremely low budget presented today.”

It’s a sad statement.  Doubly troubling is that these parks that generate much more revenue for Arizona towns than the money that is actually afforded to them through user fees and direct funding from the state’s general fund.  This recent economic analysis has the details, plus a handy summary.