Saving state parks: Innovation is the answer

The Union Leader looks at revenue data, and find hope in the State Parks system being able to support itself.

Revenues rose because fees finally were moved to more reasonable levels. (It is unclear whether attendance was affected more by the fee hikes or the miserable weather.) The money helped shore up a parks system in need of more cash.

Some legislators want to resume financing the state parks with general funds, which was halted in 1991. A state report this week concluded that those who assume state law forbids general funds from going to state parks are wrong. The statute doesn't prevent that.

However, that doesn't mean it's a good idea to take tax money needed for courts and instead spend it on parks. Doing so would not solve the challenge of funding the parks. It would simply make funding other services more problematic.

State park system earned more this summer than last

The Union Leader's Paula Tracy takes a look at revenues for the state park system.

Sunny weather from July 1 through Labor Day helped the state park system make more money this summer than last.

The division took in almost 5 percent more in operations income and almost 12 percent in retail sales, while its campgrounds saw an income hike of almost 3 percent, said Ted Austin, director of parks and recreation.

While occupancy at the state parks was down 1 percent from last summer's number, the income generated was slightly higher, about $60,000 more than the past summer's $2,078,048.

Parks Panel redrafting recommendations

Daniel Barrack reports in the Concord Monitor that the committee looking to fix the state parks system is moving on to other ideas after their last trial balloon to sell off some state properties was shot down:

But the committee's members underscored the "conundrum" at the heart of New Hampshire's public parks system. The parks receive no money from the state other than fees from visitors, but those fees fall far short of what's needed to maintain the nearly 70 sites in the system. And while the parks preserve the state's most treasured natural and historic areas, park administrators are encouraged to run the system as a business in order to make as much money as possible from the sites.

Richard Ober, chairman of the state parks advisory council, which is working with the Department of Resources and Economic Development to craft the plan, said the problems with the draft proposal issued last month shouldn't obscure the dire situation that New Hampshire's parks find themselves in. (more)

Possible loss of state parks getting notice

David Brooks reports in the Nashua Telegraph on the possibiliy of selling off some state parks:

The state park system includes 73 properties ranging from large tracts of land to historic buildings. Its fiscal health came to public attention last month when a draft management plan said the state should consider unloading 27 parks, including Silver Lake, partly because they cost so much to operate and maintain.

Although park finances have been lamented for years and were the topic of public hearings earlier this year, the issue was overshadowed by the state's overall fiscal crisis.

As a result, the possibility of the state selling some parks, raised in a draft of a 10-year management plan, caught many people by surprise when it made the state's newspapers in June. The resulting furor led the state Division of Parks and Recreation to withdraw the draft and extend a public comment period through July 27. (more)

Monitor calls for Parks funding

The Concord Monitor argues that New Hampshire can not continue to expect its state parks to be self-supporting, and calls for taxpayer dollars rather than higher fees or leasing underperforming parks to private operators:

The parks system needs a long-term management plan, and it is charged with producing one by fall. That plan should include efforts to restore and operate some properties through public-private partnerships with cities, towns and nonprofit groups. But it shouldn't count on others to come to the rescue. Municipalities and nonprofits also have their backs to the wall.

The system should also hasten to foster the creation of the "Friends of the State Parks" organization called for by the Odell Commission. Friends groups won't save the parks either, but they are part of the solution.

What the parks really need is general fund money.