Looks like the temporary reprieve that the state parks got is going to vanish again. State legislators are planning on shutting all state parks and slashing pay for all state employees (does that include the legislators as well?) in order to save money. Never mind that the state treasurer said that the state could lay off every single state employee and still be in the hole, but oh well.
No much of a person to get on a political rant, but I feel that our legislature over the past decade or so has generally done us a terrible disservice, and their current behavior is right in line with that. Why not let the voters decide themselves if they want a sales tax increase? Uh oh, the uninformed masses might do something that goes ideologically against what you like. Guess what? The public should get the final word, not you. So irritated this morning.
"The only thing we did was wrong was staying in the wilderness to long...the only thing we did was right was the day we started to fight..."
-Old Spiritual
My book, The Marauders on Lulu and Amazon
5:59 pm PST, Jan 14, Kevin Richard, Arizona
I will see to removing anyone who agrees to the budget if it includes closing my state parks. I can organize million of people to get the job done!
LoL, that's my climbing buddy and I was just climbing with him this afternoon at the gym. I knew he was against closing the parks, but I didn't realize he was so militant and had a million people at his beck and call!?!
Yea, canyoneering is an extreme sport... EXTREMELY dramatic!!! =p
Well if you think about it, it really makes no sense to close the parks during an economic slowdown, especially when tourism is a major contributing force to the Arizona economy.
Here's another thing to consider about the parks generating revenue for the state. True that most of the parks do not turn a profit from entrance fees, but $226 million in contributions to the economy in the surrounding areas? I also read an article that mentioned the average visitor to a state park spend either over $100, or $200 in the area, and that was not counting visitors who lived within 50 miles.
Think of the tax revenue that is generated from $226 million in sales from the state. To say that they don't generate positive revenue for the state is just saying that they don't generate positive revenue based on entrance fees, that is not looking at the tax revenue from the other money they generate for the local communities.
FWIW, I couldn't care less if the parks turn a profit. That's not why they exist. I accept the fact at roughly $0.67 out of every $1.00 I pay to the state will go to pay for a person to get health care who probably doesn't appreciate it or take very good care of his or herself. I offset my irritation at facts like those by knowing that maybe, just maybe, another $0.04 of that dollar will go to keep a place I love to visit open. I have long given up hope of seeing new state parks, of course...
I just found out that the entry road to Lyman will likely not be gated off except further in closer to the ranger station, and that lake access at the beginning of the road, for canoeing/kayaking may still be possible after the park is closed. Whether or not it will be legal is another matter which my source said has yet to be determined. But the water does not belong to the state. I think I will drive over there and pay my fee and check out all possible put-ins before closure.
There is a point of no return unremarked at the time in most lives. Graham Greene The Comedians
A clean house is a sign of a misspent life.
I'll try and find out more about the situation at Homolovi regarding protection. I'll try and keep everyone posted - maybe we will end up with a volunteer guard.
"The only thing we did was wrong was staying in the wilderness to long...the only thing we did was right was the day we started to fight..."
-Old Spiritual
My book, The Marauders on Lulu and Amazon
21 of 30 state parks will be closed by Casey Newton - Jan. 16, 2010
The Arizona Republic
The Arizona State Parks Board voted unanimously Friday to begin shuttering state parks, a move that will leave the parks system with fewer than one third of its properties open by June 3.
In an emotional public meeting that lasted nearly six hours, parks-board members heard from dozens of residents from across the state, pleading to keep the parks open despite steep budget cuts.
Local elected officials warned of dire economic consequences to their towns. Sheriff's deputies said they will no longer be able to patrol some lakes. Park volunteers offered to run the parks for free.
But board members said they had no choice but to close 21 of 30 parks and recreation areas following last month's special session of the Legislature, in which $8.6 million was cut from their budget. That was on top of $34 million in cuts in the previous year.
"Unfortunately, we don't have options," said Walter Armer, a member of the board.
Among the most popular parks slated for closure are Roper Lake, which drew 86,000 visitors in 2008, and Picacho Peak, which drew more than 98,000. The parks that will remain open generate revenue for the system, such as Slide Rock and Kartchner Caverns.
The parks system records more than 2.2 million total visits a year, according to the Arizona State Parks Department.
Armer added that the board would work to reopen the parks as soon as it had the funds to do so. Several proposals are making the rounds in the Legislature, including one that would add a roughly $9 fee to the cost of registering a vehicle. The money would pay for park operations, and Arizonans would then be able to get into any state park without paying an additional fee.
The proposal with the most support at the moment would refer the question of whether to impose that fee to voters, said Jay Ziemann, the department's legislative liaison.
Wittmann resident Chrissy Kondrat-Smith took her daughter, Sydney, to every state park one recent summer. The 4,000-mile journey inspired Sydney to become a junior park ranger at Red Rock State Park, which is slated to close.
Sydney, 8, recorded a video letter to Santa Claus over the holidays, asking him to keep the parks open.
Sydney began crying when she learned the parks would close. She couldn't understand why the parks can't stay open with volunteer labor, her mother said.
Others expressed concern about what will happen to the parks once staff members aren't around to protect them. Although the parks board does intend the closed parks to be patrolled, it remains unclear how many staffers will be available.
Charles Adams, a professor of archaeology at the University of Arizona, warned that closed parks would become magnets for vandals and thieves. Adams expressed particular concern for the Homolovi Ruins, an archaeological treasure that was brought into the parks system in part to protect it from theft.
"There is great concern in the archaeological community as some of these close," Adams told the board. "They are extremely vulnerable."
As the meeting concluded, members of the parks staff received word that Gov. Jan Brewer's budget proposal released Friday would make further reductions to the parks budget, which could make Arizona the first state in the nation to close its entire parks system.
"We have a huge collective fight on our hands," said Arlan Colton, a member of the board. "And that's our fight for survival."
Last edited by azdesertfather on Jan 17 2010 1:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." — Henry David Thoreau
I hate to say it, but I think it's because Republicans are in charge, who imo have little respect for the environment or the parks where we can go to appreciate it. Gov. Schwarzennegger tried to do this in California last year by trying to close 220 of their 279 state parks, but backed off thanks to park activists. They're also looking at doing the same thing now in Louisiana, Idaho and Iowa to save money.
"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." — Henry David Thoreau
dshillis wrote:I hate to say it, but I think it's because Republicans are in charge, who imo have little respect for the environment or the parks where we can go to appreciate it.
BINGO!
Here's an interesting suggestion not only to keep parks open, but also to reduce our fees to use them. Sporting goods tax for the parks, as well as an extra fee for vehicle registration. They use the sporting goods tax in Missouri to fund their state parks, and all their parks are fee free!
Sounds good on the surface. But here's the problem. The parks ... and other things ... had plenty of money to operate to begin with. Over time, greedy politicians (some with R's after their names, some with D's, and even some I's) shifted funds from one program to another. And in Arizona and many other western states, we have a proposition system that gives power directly to the electorate, power which includes mandates on spending (without providing funding) for certain things, which becomes law.
A commonly held belief amongst some is that raising taxes will solve the shortfalls. Sure, a couple of dollars on everybody's vehicle registration, maybe a few bucks on guns and/or ammunition. Definitely higher fees on hunting licenses (hunters are eeeeevvvvviiill anyway, right?) and all of this will be taken care of.
No, actually it won't. Because next year when the state needs money to sustain the all-day kindergarten program or to keep cops on the street, its political suicide to make painful cuts there, so it'll come right back out of the state park funds which are from the "new" special taxes and fees.
The state is in a tough situation financially, and there's difficult choices to be made. I certainly hope that the parks can be protected if they must be closed, but its not realistic to b¡tch about it in this forum if you don't offer up realistic options where the state should cut that money from. It doesn't exist. Something has to be cut. Cops? Teachers? Doctors? Road construction? MVD offices? Highway rest-stops? State employee salaries? There's plenty of options. Some more flexible than others.
The problem, IMHO, is that the same people who are tasked with getting us out of the mess are the ones who got us into it in the first place. And while an individual may go into stupid credit card debt and learn a life-long lesson to never do that again, there's no individual responsibility in elected officials, so there's no lesson learned. There's no reason to expect that they will make any wise or prudent fiscal decisions. Ever.
I'm not sure what my spirit animal is, but I'm confident it has rabies.
I'd rather they eliminate a bunch of law enforcement positions than close the parks. They pretty much never patrol them, anyway. This morning I saw a TPD officer half-asleep in his patrol car sitting in the parking lot at Home Depot. He was still there when I came out. Last time my alarm went off at the house they hadn't even dispatched someone by the time I left work, got home, dealt with it, and called. Since when does having a badge = license to sham and be protected to do so??!!
Jeff, I understand your frustration with law enforcement. However, the vast majority of law enforcement funding comes from municipal and county sources. The only statewide law enforcement agency is the Department of Public Safety. There are a lot of issues here:
*The initiative garbage needs to stop. It's gotten our fair state and California into fiscal trouble, and it's very difficult for our elected legislatures to do away with voter-mandated funding for whatever. One side of the coin are voter initiatives that mandate spending for this or that. The other side of the coin are voter initiatives that impose a tax on things like cigarettes with the proceeds going to kids. What happens when the # of cigarette smokers declines, and the # of kids increases? We elect our legislature to make these decisions, so why are we forced to make mundane funding decisions at the ballot? For the record I am not a fan of our current legislature, but it's supposed to do its job.
*Our legislature wastes far too much time trying to impose its ideological nonsense rather than dealing with issues that affect all of us. Why did our legislature spend time passing bills to allow guns into bars and barring business owners from prohibiting guns in their employees' cars when our state was dealing with an unprecedented budget shortfall? Why was our legislature so concerned with limiting the cervical cancer vaccine? Arizona had an abysmal fiscal situation (now worse...) during the last legislative session, and our legislature gave us a late budget even when it had a somewhat-compliant governor.
*The real problem with our state's fiscal situation isn't illegal aliens getting health care. It's about a massive shortfall of revenue. Business- and income tax receipts are waaaay down. Combine a massive shortfall of revenue with voter-mandated programs and programs that must be funded because of our state's reliance upon construction and tourism (i.e. unemployment insurance for people who used to work in the construction and hospitality industries), and it's easy to see why massive cuts are here.
As for our state parks the problem is that they're easy to cut. How many people are put out if funding for state parks is eliminated? The legislature cuts funding for the state mental hospital, and crazy people are roaming the streets. The legislature cuts funding for state parks, and people like us have one fewer sliver of the outdoors to enjoy. It stinks, but that's the way it is. I don't agree with it, and I think that the legislature could find a more creative way to deal with this current budget shortfall.
IMO the best way to deal with it is to look @ the long-term. Make Arizona a more attractive place for businesses to do business: make our education system NOT be abysmal so companies want to relocate here (it isn't all about taxes, folks); fund our universities so they're sources of innovation rather than minor league teams for major league universities; and promote sustainable industries. By "sustainable" industries I mean things other than massive homebuilding and office construction. We must get better at exporting products and services because that's the key to long-term success rather than importing people and water.
Bob, don't forget about the Kentucky Waterfall, the Canadian Passport, the Keys to the Camaro, the Tennessee Tophat, and the Beaver Paddle. Business in the front...party in the back.
I just wanted to throw out some mullet slang after reading your mention of the Tennesse Tuxedo.
In related news the Republicans in our wonderful state legislature shelled-out $60,000 to buy new furniture for their caucus room and relocate some of their staff's offices. We're selling state buildings, closing state parks, cutting funding that keeps our most vulnerable citizens out of the gutter, but can come up with $60K to move offices? I also read that Republican Senate President Ken Bennett just hired a $70K/year communications director. Great. Hiring freeze my foot.
OK, here's the specifics on the bad news...when each park is closing ... directly off the AZ Parks website. Get to 'em while you can...
Arizona State Parks Keeps Nine Parks Open. Thirteen will Close.
(Phoenix, AZ - January 15, 2010) - The Arizona State Parks Board today voted to keep nine parks open and close the remaining thirteen State Parks in a phased series of closures starting February 22, 2010 due to six different State Parks funds being swept of $8.6 million. In addition, four parks remain closed due to previous budget reductions.
Parks will be closed in a phased sequence starting on February 22, 2010 and include Homolovi Ruins State Park in Winslow, Lyman Lake State Park in St. Johns and Riordan Mansion State Historic Park in Flagstaff.
The next park closings will occur on March 29, 2010 and will include Fort Verde State Historic Park in Camp Verde, Roper Lake State Park in Safford, Tombstone Courthouse State Historic Park, Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park and Tubac Presidio State Historic Park.
The final phased closings will occur on June 3, 2010 and will include Tonto Natural Bridge State Park near Payson, Alamo Lake State Park in Wenden, Lost Dutchman State Park in Apache Junction, Picacho Peak State Park and Red Rock State Park in Sedona.
"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." — Henry David Thoreau
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