Ken Travous

State park closures likely from Arizona budget cuts

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[Source: Associated Press] — The head of the state Parks Department says five or more state parks could be closed as a result of spending cuts and fund transfers included in a legislative budget-balancing plan.  Parks Director Ken Travous said Friday he’ll be forced to recommend the closures of five parks to the Parks Board to help implement the funding changes included in the legislative plan.

Travous declined to identify which of the 27 parks would face closure before he makes a recommendation to the board for consideration next week.  But he said several more parks could be closed by summer.  He said the funding cuts would mean layoffs for approximately 100 employees, including 60 seasonal personnel who are already furloughed without pay. [Note: To read the full article, click here.]

State Parks purchases Camp Verde’s Rockin’ River Ranch

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[Source: CVBugle.com, Steve Ayers] — Chalk up another crown jewel for the ever-expanding Verde River Greenway. This week, Arizona State Parks and The Nature Conservancy have announced the purchase of the historic Rockin’ River Ranch, located on the Verde River at the southern edge of the Town of Camp Verde. The $7 million purchase was made with money designated for the specific purpose of acquiring land for State Parks. Funding for acquisition comes from the state’s Heritage Fund, which comes from the state lottery.  [Note: to read the full article, click here.]

Funding sweeps leave Arizona state parks in shambles

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[Source: John Collins Rudolf, The Zonie Report] — The steady gaze of Ernest McFarland, who in the mid-20th century served Arizona as a U.S. senator, governor and state supreme court justice, looks down on every visitor to the state park that bears his name, a restored frontier courthouse in dusty Florence, built in 1874.

“We will never be perfect in our government, but high ideals can predominate,” reads a brass plaque beneath the portrait, quoting one of McFarland’s favorite sayings. Yet perfection is hardly the word that comes to mind during a tour of McFarland State Historic Park.  Massive cracks stretch from floor to ceiling on more than one of the building’s original adobe walls.  A support beam braces a crumbling exterior wall, keeping the wall and sections of roof from collapsing. In another room, which over the years served variously as a jail, county hospital and prisoner-of-war camp, caution tape warns visitors to avoid a gaping hole in the floor.  [Note: to read the full article, click here.]

Arizona State Parks loses its improvement funding

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[Source: DeWayne Smith, Arizona Republic] — Although the Game and Fish Department was hit quite hard in the recent fund sweeps to balance the state’s budget, Arizona State Parks, which administers the State Lake Improvement Fund, found its coffers empty, thanks to the Arizona Legislature.

According to State Parks Director Ken Travous, the Arizona State Parks Board had to cancel all of its improvement-fund grants for this year, about $4 million.  “The Legislature swept everything except but what we need to operate,” said Travous, whose agency is a favorite place for legislators to find extra dollars to bolster general-fund agencies when times are lean.  [Note: to read the full article, click here.]