Arizona state parks plug away without tax funds

[Source: Mary Jo Pitzel, Arizona Republic] – There’s no money to construct boat ramps at Lake Havasu State Park or fix a leaky roof at Kartchner Caverns’ visitor center.

Nor are all Arizona state parks open year-round, or even all week.

And any thought of expansion is a pipe dream, because the parks have gone five years and counting without any money from the state’s general fund.

But, really, things are OK with state parks. So says the agency director, as well as friends and supporters of the 31-property system, who rallied to help keep parks open in the face of apparently irreversible budget cuts.

Kept afloat by partnerships, fee increases and volunteer labor, state parks are a bit like the tattered flag that flaps over a hard-fought battleground. They’re still there. But questions persist about how long the alliances that sustain them will last.

“The business end of Arizona State Parks is very challenging,” said parks director Bryan Martyn. Without general-fund support, which was cut in 2009, it’s hard to predict how much money the system will have from year to year, he said.

For now, partnerships have worked well, said Bill Meek, president of the Arizona State Parks Foundation. But he wonders how long that will last.

“It’s debatable how long some of these partnerships will go,” he said. “Most are local governments, which have their own (budget) issues.”

Some of these partners question why local government is picking up the tab for a state operation, Meek added.

In Flagstaff, a partnership knitted together under the threat of shuttering a historic Arts and Crafts-era home has kept the Riordan Mansion State Historic Park open. The Arizona Historical Society took over operation of the 13,000-square-foot mansion, with assistance from the Riordan Action Network, a network of community supporters.

“State Parks (crews) were coming up here, and they were measuring all the windows for plywood,” said park manager Joe Meehan, recalling the days when the park teetered on the brink of closure. If the house is closed for a year, it reverts to the Riordan family, according to a stipulation written into the deed when the house was turned over to the state in 1986.

Supporters convened community meetings, and out of that grew the action network and a partnership with the historical society.

Meehan, a curator at the nearby Pioneer Museum in Flagstaff, split his time and moved to the mansion to take over as park manager.

“This park is very special to the community,” he said. “It is a showpiece, and it is a piece of art.”

It also is a big piece of Flagstaff history, built at the turn of the 20th century by the two brothers who ran an area lumber mill. Tim and Michael Riordan, along with their spouses, built two mirror-image houses, connected by a large common area they called “the cabin.” The sprawling mansion was nicknamed the “ultimate duplex,” boasting 40 rooms.

The mansion, one of several historic sites in the state parks’ portfolio, fit well with the historical society’s mission, said Bill Peterson, the historical society’s northern-division director.

The society signed a three-year agreement to run the mansion, saving it from closure at the height of the state’s deep budget cuts. The deal has been renewed for another three years.

Gwen Groth helped found the Riordan Action Network in 2009, propelled by her love of history and the mansion’s role in Flagstaff’s story.

The network counts a few hundred members, some even stretching to the Riordans’ home country of Ireland, but it has fallen to a small corps of locals to raise the money that has helped the mansion keep its doors open.

To date, the network has raised $70,000. In the early days, it paid for roof replacement and other maintenance costs.

But Groth said it’s been nearly a year since the group has had to contribute operating expenses, since the park was doing well on fees, concession proceeds and support from the historical society.

That’s freed up money for special projects, like supplies for the mansion’s many gardens and lighting for the courtyard, the site of weddings and other special events.

Between the network support and the partnership with the historical society, Riordan Mansion is faring well. Admission fees and collections from other events are up. The park got a big boost last fall when the federal government’s budget stalemate closed Grand Canyon National Park. Tourists were looking for alternatives, and Riordan was an easy option, Meehan said.

But is this arrangement strong enough to keep the park running in the long run?

“It’s tough,” Meehan said. “But it’s working right now. It’s worked for three years.”

That sense of uncertainty is common among other parks supporters.

Martyn said the parks have benefited from a $1 million appropriation that lawmakers negotiated in this year’s budget. A bill pushed by Sens. Sen. Steve Pierce, R-Prescott, and Steve Farley, D-Tucson, took a portion of the interest earned on the state’s “rainy-day fund” and split it evenly between the parks and the Commission on the Arts.

Martyn said the money allowed the agency to bring electricity to campgrounds at three parks, making them more attractive to visitors with recreational vehicles and campers.

“That $1 million will turn into $5 million over the next five years,” Martyn said, counting on an uptick from visitors with RVs.

However, there are no indications the appropriation will continue next year. And a reliable source of parks funding — money from boat-registration fees — could be redirected to county governments for lake improvements if House Bill 2149 becomes law.

Some of the partnerships are dialing back their financial contributions. For example, the Hopi Tribe used to provide $175,000 a year to Homolovi State Park, which is on the reservation. It’s now $50,000, Martyn said.

For the past three years, Yavapai County contributed $90,000 a year to help support the five state parks within its boundaries. Now, it’s nothing.

“They don’t have the money,” Martyn said.

As the support ebbs, the needs pile up.

The parks have $4 million in capital needs. Projects on the waiting list range from running a water line from Benson to Kartchner Caverns State Park to building gallows for Tombstone Courthouse State Historic Park.

At the Parks Foundation, Meek takes some comfort from the business plans that have been developed for each of the parks. They are designed to help the parks maximize their revenue and make them self-sustaining.

He believes parks need to forget help from lawmakers “as long as the Republicans are running the Legislature.”

The parks’ long list of needs makes self-sufficiency a difficult goal.

“They have a whole bunch of capital needs just waiting to pounce on them,” Meek said. “They’re one circumstance from being shut down.

“What happens when the wastewater system at Buckskin (Mountain State Park) breaks and starts spewing into the Colorado River?”

 

Seeking state park status Historical Del Rio as state park?

Chino Valley Historical Society President Kay Lauster, center, describes the Del Rio Ranch, the first site of Fort Whipple in 1863, this past Wednesday to Bryan Martyn, executive director of the Arizona State Parks, left, and three other historical society members. Not pictured are Paul Aslanian, ranch property manager, Chino Valley Mayor Chris Marley and Supervisor Craig Brown. Martyn is on a statewide Preservation Series Tour.

[Source:Salina Sialega, Chino Valley Review] – “Do the math” is the message Bryan Martyn, Arizona State Parks Executive Director, passed on to seven people he met with this past Wednesday at the Del Rio Springs historical marker on Highway 89 north of ChinoValley. Part of the group continued on with Martyn a quarter of a mile to the Del Rio Ranch, near the site indicated on the marker. The visit lasted about an hour.

“We math everything,” Martyn told the group, consisting of four Chino Valley Historical Society members, Chino Mayor Chris Marley, ranch property manager Paul Aslanlian and Supervisor Craig Brown. “With historical property, it’s the business end of the deal.”

The group questioned Martyn about the idea of creating a state park at the ranch, the first site of FortWhipple in 1863. The Historical Society paid tribute to the arrival of Governor John Goodwin’s party to the fort in 1984 with a celebration at the ranch on Jan. 22. Martyn said it’s a great piece property, but his office has all the property it needs, adding that operations and maintenance quickly eat up money for such historical parks. He also said most people using state parks prefer campground facilities, and especially facilities with trees. Del Rio Ranch has a few trees, and someone in the group commented that more trees could be planted.

Aslanian described to Martyn the ranch’s water rights on the creek, which he said was the second oldest water right filed in Arizona. Aslanian, along with Brown and historical society members, told Martyn about many of the ranch’s historial features, including the county’s oldest cemetery at the ranch, a water tank used by the Sante Fe railroad, the Harvey House farming and care of mules used at the Grand Canyon and more. They toured the ranch’s mule barn, dairy building, and quartermaster’s house at the ranch.
Aslanian said what he pictures at the ranch is a tourist spot featuring a restaurant and weekend historical re-enactments and other activities.”It sounds like great potential here,” Martyn said. “There’s nothing in this world that is free.” He cautioned that his agency doesn’t do city parks.

Martyn discussed Heritage grants with the group, especially smaller projects costing $20,000-$40,000. Martyn encouraged the historical society members and local officials to “stay passionate and keep driving at it.”

Martyn is traveling around the state on what he calls a Preservation Tour with a three-part message: to thank rural Arizona for state parks and protect those resources, to examine public access to state land but not at the expense of the resources, and to show that parks are an economic driver for rural Arizona.

 

Arizona State Parks Director takes Historic and Archaeological Preservation Series on the road

[Source: Verde Independent] – Arizona State Parks Director Bryan Martyn is coordinating public meetings and will travel across the state in a new program called “The Director’s Historic and Archaeological Preservation Series,” which will focus on Arizona‘s historic and cultural treasures.

The Arizona State Parks department not only manages all 27 State Parks, but also the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), which has various roles in 90 communities across the State. Martyn will engage local leaders, residents, museum leaders and other preservation enthusiasts in discussions about Arizona‘s important historic and archaeological resources.

SHPO manages the nationally acclaimed Site Steward program that protects archaeological resources throughout Arizona. The program has more than 1,000 volunteers to oversee millions of acres of state/federal and tribal land. (Watch video: Harrison Ford www.AZStateparks.com/SHPO/index.html). The SHPO also reviews properties for the National Register of Historic Places, reviews actions that might affect historic properties, provides technical assistance to historic property owners and Certified Local Governments, and oversees historic matching grants.

“I am planning meetings about our important historic and archaeological resources that need to be preserved and promoted for tourism, such as the historic State Parks. But I also am interested in supporting the “Main Street Program” which is now managed by the State Historic Preservation Office. I hope to start a dialogue about how we can work together to protect resources and re-adapt or re-use historic resources and focus on how these resources provide economic benefits for the communities. My goal is to bring attention to critical historic structures and how they could be protected through adaptive re-use.”

A schedule of each town visited will be posted on AZStateParks.com (Director’s Series) and the public is welcome to contact him about issues in their communities as they relate to historic and cultural resources and talk with him while he is there. Follow the series on Twitter and Facebook at AZStateParks. If you would like to contact the director, email pio@azstateparks.gov. (Below are preliminary sites to visit with a final schedule posted on the website weekly.)

For more information about the Director’s Historic and Archaeological Preservation Series or for information about all of the Arizona State Parks visit AZStateParks.com or call (602) 542-4174.

Effort To Restore Heritage Fund Dead for the 2013 Session

[Source: Kyle Mittan, Tucson Weekly] – It looks as if the chance to restore Heritage Fund dollars to state parks and transit services is dead for the year.

But Tucson Rep. Ethan Orr said he would continue to work to restoring the Heritage Fund, despite the House Appropriations Committee’s recent decision to not hear House Bill 2594. Orr, as the bill’s primary sponsor, had wanted to restore the Heritage Fund dollars that were eliminated in 2010 as part of a budget-balancing package. His bill would have directed $10 million in lottery funds to the Heritage Fund, as well as $9 million in lottery funds to local transportation.

Although the bill failed to get past the Appropriations Committee, Orr said he planned to bring the bill back next year. Orr added that he has had a close working relationship with Arizona State Parks Executive Director Bryan Martyn, who also has an “excellent 20-year vision” for the maintenance and preservation of Arizona’s state parks.

Orr said that the state parks are important on a number of levels, specifically in terms of state economics and preserving the history of Arizona. “Strictly from an economical standpoint, they’re key drivers for our rural communities,” he said. “And they’re part of our heritage; they’re part of celebrating what’s beautiful in Arizona.”