State parks face $3 million budget cuts
Utah State Parks sustained debilitating budget cuts as a result of the recent legislative session. Associate professor of recreation resources management Steve Burr said the cuts are the culmination of three years of a suffering state economy.
“Not just State Parks but a variety of agencies have had their budgets reduced,” Burr said. “A vast majority of people in the state feel that state parks are important, and they don’t want to see state parks close down.”
In November, several state-run agencies like Natural Resources, Prisons and Corrections, Health and Human Resources and Higher Education were informed of additional upcoming budget cuts that would necessitate a closer look at innovative methods of staying out of trouble.
Now that it’s March, legislators are through balancing Utah’s budget, and with a better financial outlook than was originally expected, Utah State Parks communications coordinator Deena Loyola said her agency has a better idea of where they stand.
“Essentially when we start our new fiscal year July 1, our budget is $6.8 million,” Loyola said. “However, we’re not guaranteed that money for the next fiscal year. That puts our general fund allocation just at $4 million, so in two years we’ll be going from $9.8 to $4 million.”
Along with this year’s $3 million reduction, two additional legislative requirements restrict the State Parks agency from raising entrance fees or closing any of its parks.
“They’re really binding our hands in what we can do,” Loyola said. “That means a loss in personnel and reducing seasonal hiring from Memorial to Labor Day. We do a lot of outreach with school students, both hosting them in the parks and also going out to the schools, so we’ll probably see reductions there as well.”
She said the amount of services offered within the parks might drop, too, which means fewer rangers in the parks, shorter hours of operation and less frequently cleaned garbage and toilet facilities.
Brigham City resident Jeff Packer, the former chairman of the Utah State Parks, said past drastic budget cuts like this have led to turning financial responsibility for certain parks over to their respective counties.
“It’s most regrettable that one of the smallest departments of state government would have to absorb some of the largest hits,” Packer said. “I am not directly involved with the current budget cuts, but we had no room to cut so I don’t know how they’re taking any cuts at all.”
Loyola said one possible option is to privatize certain services within the parks, such as campsites, eateries and supply stores. This would allow for additional revenue generation that would ease the shock of dwindling government subsidies.
USU professor Daniel Stevens, who teaches a class about managing natural resources conflicts, said this could be a good time to consider alternative management strategies. One possibility would be creating community partnerships similar to the Adopt-a-Highway project.
Another strategy suggested by Stevens, who said he’s a teacher of community development, would be creation of summer youth programs. Implementations like these could generate youth employment opportunities and affordable park maintenance options.
“We’re a very conservative state, fiscally, we have to have a balanced budget,” Stevens said. “That means we make tough choices every year. Compared to some of our neighboring states in the West, we’ve actually got a good fiscal situation.”
Loyola said Arizona is under such dire financial stress that they have had to close down several state parks of their own. Under legislative mandate, Utah parks will remain open.
The nearby Bear Lake, she said, is one of Utah’s parks that regularly generate moderate profits. With three separate recreation areas, Bear Lake is one of the larger water-centered parks in the state.
“Hyrum is a beautiful park, one of my favorite parks actually,” Loyola said of another local state park. “They bring in a lot of athletic events. They host a triathlon and a couple of fishing competitions.”
Both parks offer water-based recreation and day-use and camping facilities. Electrical hookups for recreational vehicles and dry storage for boats have recently been installed at Hyrum State Park.
Burr, who is also the vice president for Friends of Utah State Parks, said a recent year-long state parks audit revealed which parks generate little to no revenue, including Green River State Park.
“Residents are really proud of their state parks, there’s a great amount of support,” Burr said. “Residents perceive a lot of benefits both economically and socially. But in times of tight budgets parks seem to be on the hit list first.”
Any surplus dollars generated by higher-grossing parks go to fund less-visited parks. He said this doesn’t mean that the latter are any less important than the former.
“The whole idea of the State Parks system, which was modeled on the National Parks system, is that it’s a public good,” Burr said. “It’s for the enjoyment and benefit of the people.”
– dan.whitney.smith@aggiemail.usu.edu