News from NARRP This content is generated by members for members. Please send us your news, reports, job announcements, manuals and personal updates that may be of interest to recreation planning professionals.
The National Association of Recreation Resource Planners
Request from a member
Has anyone developed an “assessment tool” (a “how-to” sheet for field offices) to quantify and qualify trails and facilities based on the new Department of Justice rule for “power-driven mobility devices” by persons with disabilities? In particular, I am looking for guidance on how to classify the types of mobility machines that may access particular tracts or trails.
Matt Beaver PA Department of Conservation & Natural Resources Bureau of Forestry, Recreation Section 717-783-7941 [email protected]
New reports on the Planning Resources and SCORP pages
The Economic Significance and Impact of Pennsylvania State Parks (Penn State University, 2010, 0.2 MB)
Nebraska SCORP (2011, 10.9 MB)
Nevada SCORP (2010, 19.6 MB)
States Slashed General Revenue Funds for State Parks by 12.3 Percent in FY 2009-10 Courtesy of Outdoor Industry Association
In their rush to balance state budgets, state law makers are undercutting one of their best performing investments; state parks, according to a report released this week by the National Association of State Park Directors (NASPD) on the eve of their annual lobbying trip to Washington D.C.
Visitation to America’s state parks reached 740 million in the year ended June 30, 2010, up 1.6 percent from 727 million in the period ended June 30, 2009, according to the NASPD’s Annual Information Exchange Report, which was published this week by North Carolina State University. Yet general fund support for park operations was reduced by $114 million or about 12.3 percent in the most recently completed fiscal year.
Joe Elton, president of the National Association of State Park Directors and Virginia’s state parks director, called the trend troubling since it places at risk the more than $20 billion in economic impact that state parks have on the nation’s economy.
“State parks nationally are generating a nine-fold return on the annual operating investment during some of our nation’s most difficult economic times,” said Elton. “That is significant and must not be jeopardized. There are too many private and public sector jobs depending on the vitality of these public parks and placing them at risk only aggravates the economic stress on state economies.”
The report found that state general funds represent about $810 million, or 36.8 percent, of the $2.2 billion spent nationally to operate state parks in fiscal 2010, compared to $924.4 million, or 41.5 percent a year earlier. States made up for about half the decline in general fund spending with so-called dedicated funds, which accounted for $402.8 million, or 18.1 percent of operating funds in FY 2010, compared to 15.2 percent in FY 2009.
Dedicated funds for operations come from a variety of sources, including mandatory and optional vehicle registration fees approved by voters, as well as money that has merely been shifted from funds dedicated to capital improvements. In other words, some states are robbing their capital improvement funds for state parks to operate existing parks.
This year’s report also shows entrance and camping fees growing more than twice as fast as visitation and total fee income, indicating state parks moved decisively in fiscal 2009 to raise fees to become more self-sufficient. While total fee revenues rose 2.7 percent to $19.6 million, entrance fees rose 8.5 percent and camping fees rose 6.0 percent.
The NASPD’s annual report comes as state, county and regional park directors prepare to attend the National Recreation and Parks Association’s National Legislative Forum in Washington D.C. The annual event, which kicks off today, seeks to educate members of Congress on the importance of parks and recreation to local communities. The cycling industry completed its annual lobbying trip to Washington D.C. last week and OIA will send its own delegation next month as part of its annual Capitol Summit.
Elton said he thinks the outdoor recreation industry is making headway with its economic arguments. In Virginia, for instance, the Governor’s Commission on Economic Development and Job Creation found last fall that the state was generating $5 in additional state and local tax revenue for every dollar it invested on tourism marketing. The study recommended that as the state streamlines its “Virginia is For Lovers” marketing campaign that it develop sub-brands focused on the state business community, its growing wine industry and on parks and recreation.
“It used to be that we’d say parks are part of a healthy lifestyle,” noted Elton. “Now we are saying parks are part of healthy lifestyle and a healthy economy. The message we are trying to send is parks are not just a nicety you can jettison in difficult economic times because they are somehow not a core part of government. They really are a necessity with hundreds of thousands of jobs at stake plus the spending on outdoor recreation. Without that, the country’s economic crisis would be even greater.”
Gov. Hickenlooper proposes merging parks, wildlife agencies Courtesy of The Denver Post
By Lynn Bartels
The state agencies that deal with parks and wildlife may soon be merged into a single division in an effort to save money, Gov. John Hickenlooper announced Tuesday.
Hickenlooper and Mike King, director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, said that should their plan get legislative approval, no one will lose their jobs — but positions will be eliminated as employees retire or resign. The initial estimate is that consolidation would mean about 25 fewer state jobs.
Because of the merger, Hickenlooper's proposal to repurpose state parks that were going to be closed in the current budget crisis is on hold.
King said there is a "tremendous amount of overlap" between the Division of Wildlife and Colorado State Parks.
"They provide recreational opportunity. They protect our lands, our habitat, our hunting and fishing opportunities," he said, adding that consolidation "should have been done a long time ago."
Once the merger is complete, park users and anglers would be able to go to the same website to buy licenses, he said.
But Rep. Matt Jones, D-Louisville, who retired from Boulder's open space program, isn't sure the consolidation is a good fit.
"It would be like merging Wynkoop Brewery with Coors," he said. "They both brew beer, but their missions are different."
Rick Enstrom, a former commissioner with the Division of Wildlife, agreed that there is duplication between the two agencies and that streamlining is needed.
But he said he worked with former DOW director Russ George to exempt the division from restrictions imposed by the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, which controls taxation and spending. The Division of Wildlife is now an enterprise account funded by user fees, such as hunting licenses.
"How is that going to work then with parks?" Enstrom said. "The devil is going to be in the details."
The Division of Wildlife employs about 650 people, while parks employs about 250, King said. Initially, the people in the overlapping positions will help plan the merger, which King said would be "intensive."
Sen. Gail Schwartz, D-Snowmass Village, and Rep. Jerry Sonnenberg, R-Sterling, are carrying a bill allowing for the consolidation.
"When it comes to saving money, when it comes to agencies overlapping, there's not a better two agencies to put together," Sonnenberg said.
Facing a $1.1 billion shortfall for next fiscal year, Hickenlooper also has merged the jobs done by the executive director of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and the state's chief medical officer into one position. And he has worked with lawmakers to get permission to allow Lt. Gov. Joe Garcia to also serve as the executive director of the Colorado Department of Higher Education.
Partnerships sustain Arizona's state parks Courtesy of azcentral.com
For more than a year, Arizona's parks system has been working to keep the state's recreational areas operating in the wake of ongoing budget cuts.
Users now pay higher fees to visit many of the spaces. Some parks are open fewer hours, and officials are increasingly relying on partnerships to cover costs.
The latest agreement, forged with the Hopi Tribe, will allow the state to reopen Homolovi Ruins State Park near Winslow on Friday. The park, which encompasses seven ancestral Hopi pueblos that were occupied from roughly 1260 to 1400, has been closed since February 2010.
Officials are cheering the partnership, which will keep Homolovi open for at least one year. But they acknowledge that big challenges still face the parks system.
"We don't know when or if things are going to turn around," said Renee Bahl, executive director of Arizona State Parks. "The partnerships are fantastic, but they are not long-term solutions."
Arizona is not the only state struggling amid budget deficits. Colorado, California, Utah and Idaho are grappling with the same challenges.
"This is the new reality," said Roy Stearns, director of communications for California's state parks system. "All of (us) have to look at different ways to fund and sustain parks into the future."
Shuttering a state park does more than simply close a site of beauty or historical significance to residents or visitors, parks' officials said. It creates a negative ripple effect on the local economy, such as that of one of the many small or rural towns that rely on the tourist dollars the parks bring into their communities.
ARIZONA'S SYSTEM
The Arizona parks system, which is composed of 30 parks, consistently draws more than 2 million visitors a year. Total visitation for 2010 was down slightly because officials reduced hours at some facilities and closed others after the state slashed funding in December 2009.
The parks system now receives no general-fund revenue. It had been receiving up to $9 million a year before the budget cuts, Bahl said.
The cuts had threatened to close more than a dozen parks last year, but officials worked to get financial commitments from counties and community groups to temporarily keep several of them open. For example, Tubac Presidio State Historic Park is being operated in conjunction with Santa Cruz County and the Tubac Historical Society. McFarland State Historic Park is being operated by the town of Florence and the Florence Main Street project, a non-profit tasked with improving the local economy.
Under the agreement forged with the Hopi, the state will continue to operate Homolovi, but the tribe will pay $175,000 to help operate the park, a contribution that will help employ parks staff. The deal includes an option to renew the agreement for two additional years.
When Homolovi reopens, only Oracle State Park in the foothills of the Catalina Mountains, Lyman Lake State Park in northeastern Arizona, and San Rafael State Natural Area near the Arizona-Mexico border will still be closed. Bahl said she is hopeful that an agreement will be in place to reopen Lyman during the summer.
Arizona's parks generated between $9 million and $9.5 million in revenue each of the past three years.
A study released earlier this year suggested that the system could operate more efficiently if the private sector took over part of its operations and if a quasi-public agency managed it. But the report recommended against privatizing the entire system, in part because some state parks are operated via leases with the federal government's Bureau of Land Management.
SIMILAR CHALLENGES
Other states also are following Arizona's lead and cutting visitor hours, reducing services or turning to partnerships to keep their parks systems afloat. Some are considering other ideas for raising money.
California has recently relied on private corporations to cover the costs of capital projects and other upgrades at its recreation areas. Coca-Cola Bottling Co. and Stater Bros. supermarkets, for example, helped raise money to replant more than 1 million trees scorched by wildfires in state parks near San Diego and in San Bernardino County.
Utah has increased fees and reduced services, and Washington is trying to consolidate parks management. Colorado, which has raised park fees and reduced operating hours, may close parks and allow oil and gas drilling in certain parks.
"For better or worse, we are at the forefront of this issue," Bahl said. "We were hit the hardest and quickest in terms of losing resources for state parks. We had to immediately adjust our expenditures. We didn't have the opportunity or luxury of thinking of a long-term solution."
REOPENING HOMOLOVI
Homolovi, which is on 4,000 acres on a vast floodplain, has cultural and religious significance for the Hopi Tribe.
More than 9,000 Hopis live on a 1.6 million-acre reservation 65 miles north of the park, which was established in 1986. The state and the tribe have worked together for the past month to six weeks to spruce up the park for its grand reopening.
Visitors can learn about the Hopi's ancient culture, watch demonstrations of their crafts and purchase works made by Hopi artists.
Hopi Chairman LeRoy Shingoitewa said he hopes those who come will leave with a better understanding of the Hopi people and culture.
"We want people to know that the Hopi people are a real, true culture that is existing in the United States," Shingoitewa said.
Florida contemplates golf courses in state parks Courtesy of OrlandoSentinel.com
Someday you might be able to strap the kayak to the top of the car, the bicycle to the rack on back, then throw the golf clubs inside the back with the camping gear, all for a trip to Jonathan Dickinson State Park.
State Rep. Pat Rooney, R-West Palm Beach, filed a bill on Friday that would allow at least five Jack Nicklaus-designed golf courses to be built on state park land, including one capable of hosting a U.S. Open within the 61-year-old, 11,500-acre park in southern Martin County named for a shipwrecked Quaker merchant.
House Bill 1239, with the companion bill Senate Bill 1846 sponsored by Sen. John Thrasher, R- Jacksonville, requires the construction of an 18-hole or more public golf course in the parks, "free from unnecessarily burdensome requirements," as a means to enhance tourism and create jobs.
Rooney said Nicklaus, a North Palm Beach resident, met with Gov. Rick Scott just over a month ago to brainstorm ways to improve the economy, and later approached the Rooney family.
"We're trying to do something for tourism that's going to add some jobs, bring in some construction, and hopefully be a tourism draw," said Rooney, the chairman of the Palm Beach County Golf Association. "I'm sure [Nicklaus] would work with as many environmental groups as possible to ensure the environmental elements there aren't compromised."
The bill has yet to go before any legislative committee, but is already receiving criticism from local officials and environmentalists.
"We don't know of any areas within Jonathan Dickinson Park that are large enough for a golf course," said Greg Braun, executive director of Audubon of Martin County. "We're kind of concerned that passersby driving U.S. 1, they see the land management activities and think the area doesn't have environmental value and that's not the case."
The park has 13 natural communities, including sand pine scrub, pine flatwoods, mangroves, and river swamps, cut by the Loxahatchee River, Florida's first federally designated Wild and Scenic River.
Braun also questioned the intent behind the bill, noting that golf game numbers have been dwindling.
"It seems kind of inconsistent to destroy a park like that for something that may or may not be financially viable," Braun said.
According to NBC Sports, the Great Recession hit both private and public golf hard, with the number of rounds played down 10.4 percent across the nation in November 2010 from a year earlier. However, the National Golf Foundation reported that rounds played in January had a 7.4 percent upswing from a year earlier, including a 9.4 percent spike in Florida.
Martin County Commission Chairman Ed Ciampi said while he supports the idea of golf courses where the land might be open, he questioned how such a facility could be put into Jonathan Dickinson State Park because of the extensive native habitat. He said the county isn't expected to have a vote on the matter.
"If this gains any momentum [through the Legislature]," Ciampi said, "it's just going to turn in to a waste of time in trying to figure how to get golf course holes through all these native species and animal habitats and wetlands."
Ciampi added that he had yet to talk with any proponent of the bill, "to know what the other side of the issue could possibly be, but I don't see one."
The bill requires that Nicklaus, a longtime Palm Beach County resident, design each course in state parks of at least 3,000 acres and within close distance to an interstate or turnpike. Each facility, to be built to environmentally sensitive specs and named as part of the Jack Nicklaus Golf Trail of Florida, will include a practice area, clubhouse with limited food service, parking and, possibly, a hotel.
Rooney said he wasn't sure about a resort, but Nicklaus would like the venue to be able to host a U.S. Open, the second of the four majors and normally held in mid-June. The Open, staged at a variety of courses since 1895, has never been held in Florida. In mid-June, Florida is just entering the hurricane season, with frequent afternoon showers.
"The concern is, the timing doesn't mesh up in late June," Rooney said. "If it's that level of golf course, I think they'd at least consider it."
The Nicklaus Golf Trail would be modeled after the Robert Trent Jones golf trail in Alabama; the idea is to have five courses essentially within a few hours of driving distance of each other.
Only Jonathan Dickinson State Park is identified in the bill.
"I don't know necessarily why Jonathan Dickinson State Park is one of the names brought up," Rooney said. "With the topography and such, Mr. Nicklaus must have thought it'd be a great place for a course."
Rooney said Nicklaus would use about 200 acres of the park, mostly areas where there are remnants of Camp Murphy, a secret World War II radar base.
Privatizing state parks Courtesy of newsreview.com
By John Koeberer
The prospect of state-park closures is again in the news. Many state parks do not have to close, including many dear to the hearts of Butte County residents like Bidwell Mansion, Bidwell- Sacramento River Park and Lake Oroville. There are private-based alternatives that should be considered before closing any parks.
The failure of Proposition 21 last November made it clear that, no matter how much Californians loved their state parks, they didn’t want to pay additional taxes to keep them open. They sent a clear message: Find another way!
The truth is that many state parks lack the historical, natural, cultural, recreational or economic significance to be a state park. They should be adopted by nonprofits, local park agencies or other sympathetic agencies. Lacking that, they could be bundled geographically with larger, financially more successful units for management by professional private concessionaires.
Private enterprise has demonstrated nationally that it is capable of assuming many functions within parks, including fee collection, maintenance, interpretation and even limited security, while overall park supervision remains with a state parks superintendent. The savings can be as significant as 50 percent, while the average may be more like 30 percent of overall operating costs.
Many privately managed approaches can raise significant new funds for state parks, such as automated 24/7 fee-collection pay stations at entrances, parking lots and showers; development of yurts, tent cabins and park models in existing campgrounds; promotion and development of park-appropriate special events including concerts, competitions and spectator events; and new types of tours, recreational and interpretative programs that appeal to new audiences.
It is in the DNA of entrepreneurs to invent new ways to stimulate revenue. Private capital will flow when opportunities for return on investment are given.
These private-sector approaches can be accomplished at little to no cost. They are not panaceas, but privately financed successes elsewhere indicate that most criticisms are unfounded. Almost all private companies operating in our public parks have a significant environmental ethic—they don’t want a McDonald’s on top of Mount Rushmore any more than you do.
If we muster the political will to honestly consider new ideas from the private sector, park closures and deteriorated parks need not be inevitable.
Idaho Parks to Rely More on RV Camping Fees Courtesy of RVBusiness.com
Idaho parks could see fewer state tax dollars in the next state budget, though its total spending plan could increase slightly due to an increased use of fees on visitors and RV campers.
The shift is part of a new business model by the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation (IDPR) to depend less on state funding, due in part to budgetary pressures, the Boise-based Idaho Reporter stated.
“We hit this parks department pretty severely in terms of general funds,” said Rep. George Eskridge, R-Dover, who helped write the new parks budget. State funding for parks dropped from almost $16 million in the 2009 budget year to a proposed $1.3 million in the 2012 budget. Eskridge and other lawmakers on the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee (JFAC) approved that budget unanimously today.
“We believe that we’ve got a good solid budget that we can operate the department on and move forward some projects that will generate some revenue and help us be sustainable,” IDPR Director Nancy Merrill said.
The budget includes shifting some fees from RV registrations and other sources to pay for upgrades at several parks. Henry’s Lake State Park in southeast Idaho would get an expanded campground, costing $2 million. Farragut State Park in north Idaho would get $250,000 to renovate a restroom and Heyburn State Park, also in north Idaho, would get $600,000 for renovations. Several other parks would get smaller amounts for renovations.
Merrill said IDPR is continuing further with its business plan, which also includes adding advertisements to some parks. She said she’s been in talks with a major corporate sponsor, but couldn’t reveal which company is contemplating funding a park or program.
The $1.3 million in state funding for parks, starting in July, fits the budget target JFAC has for reducing state funding by 2.2% beyond the budget set by Gov. Butch Otter. The plan, like all other agency budgets approved by JFAC, must be approved by the Idaho House and Senate.
Seattle Park Value Report
Money really does grow on trees in Seattle
TPL's new study of the park system of Seattle shows that the city's parks generate considerable economic value—both to the local government and to Seattle residents.
According to the detailed analysis by the Center for City Park Excellence, Seattle's parks deliver annual municipal revenue of $19.2 million, municipal savings of $12.4 million, resident savings of $511.6 million and a collective increase of resident wealth of $110.8 million.
These different economic values stem from seven measurable factors provided by the parks— clean air, clean water, tourism, direct use, health, property value, and community cohesion.
The report, commissioned by the city of Seattle and Seattle Parks Foundation, is the seventh in a series of such studies. Previous cities analyzed include Denver; Philadelphia; Sacramento; San Diego; Wilmington, Delaware; and Charlotte/Mecklenburg County, N.C.
Download the report as a PDF here: http://c232.r32.cf2.rackcdn.com/ccpe-seattle-park-benefits- report.pdf
Seattle's parks in peril: the choices are to shrink, skimp or pay up Courtesy of seattletimes.nwsource.com
By Bob Young
Let's go up to Capitol Hill and take a close look at a lovely little time bomb.
At the corner of Summit Avenue and East John Street, city officials opened late last year a pocket park that's a mere .22 acres — just enough for a community garden, grill, terraced lawn and skateboard rail.
Like most new Seattle parks, this patch of paradise was approved by voters, part of a tax levy politicians crafted to sprinkle greenery around the city. Unfortunately, they didn't include the money needed to maintain all these new parks.
Each new gem means a little skimping elsewhere; a bathroom gets cleaned less often, a ballfield goes unlined. "We're giving with the right hand," says interim Parks Superintendent Christopher Williams, "and taking away with the left."
That's why, with the city swimming in a pool of red ink, the Department of Parks and Recreation eliminated 112 jobs representing 11 percent of its staff, cut hours at community centers, increased fees by almost $1 million, deferred repairs on leaky roofs and shut down programs. The department now uses the $750,000 Environmental Learning Center at Carkeek Park, which attained a gold rating for green buildings, only for rentals.
Here in the city of sustainability, our parks system is "totally unsustainable," says former Superintendent Tim Gallagher.
The problem, he insists, is simple: We keep adding parks without commensurate funds to operate them. That's why Gallagher says he quit his $166,000-a-year job. (He tried to sound the alarm on his way out of City Hall last year, but was drowned out by the din over a $6,000 trip he and another parks official took to a conference in Australia.)
The solutions, he says, are obvious: Shrink the system or raise taxes to run it properly.
But "obvious" and "politically advantageous" are two different things. And raising taxes could be particularly tough when it's pointed out that Seattle's parks have been very well-tended. Until this year's cuts, we had more park employees per capita than any big city in the country. We ranked behind only Washington, D.C., in spending on parks.
Mayor Mike McGinn disputes the urgency of the problem. Fixes are within reach, he says, without a new tax. He thinks the system could be saved by efficiencies, partnerships and commercial opportunities, maybe even along the lines of Bryant Park in New York City, which is privately managed.
Each position has political implications. Gallagher's narrative lays the foundation for a potential campaign to raise taxes for parks. McGinn's serves his own priorities and masks some of his culpability in creating the problem.
Either way, there's widespread agreement our park system faces a reckoning unlike any in its 123-year history. Unless our economy bounces back big-time, the squeeze on parks will get tighter, and Seattle will have to choose a smaller system, more commercialization or more taxes — perhaps all three.