The bill cuts more than $9 million of Parks funds, leaving the agency with only about $10 million in its 2010 budget. That’s less than 30 percent of the agency’s normal funding and not enough to continue park operations beyond this fiscal year.Arizona Governor Jan Brewer and the Arizona legislature are seeking $205 million in cuts to mitigate a deficit estimated to be $1.5 billion. The Foundation says the proposed cuts to State Parks would provide just 4 percent of their goal, while shutting down the Park’s annual contribution to the Arizona economy of more than $266 million (much of which is generated in busy parks like those in the Parker area).
The cuts will force major reductions in Parks staff and closure of more than half of the State’s 30 parks this fiscal year. The resulting loss of Park revenue is projected to leave the Parks System with no money to start the next fiscal year, July 1, 2010. The next step would be to shut down the entire system and dispose of Parks properties, returning most of them to their original owners.
The Foundation’s website now contains an “urgent call to action”, saying:
If legislatures could keep parks open to Arizonans through 50 years of prior downturns, wars, gas crises and political turmoil, surely current lawmakers can find the revenues to do so–-especially given the great economic value, popularity and intrinsic worth of our state parks.
If you or your children wish to ever visit such extraordinary places like Kartchner Caverns State Park, Tonto Natural Bridge State Park, or Tubac Presidio State Historic Park, you must act today. It is our last hope.
According to the Foundation, the last hope for keeping State Parks open is a line-by-line veto by Governor Brewer of the Parks cuts in the bill. They are appealing to the Governor to do this and ask that the public do the same.
43 comments:
What a shame and so shortsighted of the Arizona legislature. Although I'm not from Arizona, we come there at least every other year; the wonderful parks are the biggest part of the attraction. And guess what, we spend money at your restaurants, shops, grocery stores, and for lodging while there. If the parks close, Arizona will no longer be a destination. I'd be willing to pay a bit more to use the parks.
Arizona benefits from RV tourism more than just about any state. No doubt hundreds hundreds of millions of dollars are spent there every year by RVers and campers. Talk about a stupid idea!!! You can't under estimate the stupidity of legislators!
We live our lives being taxed to death every day.To close the parks is taking away the opportunity for people to see a lot of Gods gifts to this earth.
I was sadden to learn the thinking of AZ legislator, we are full time RVers and spend 2 to 3 months visiting AZ. especialy the state parks (spending "MONEY"). Definitely there are no formulas available for estimating legislator stupidity.
The amount of tourist money they will lose will put them into more revenue loss than they can handle. It will cause thousands of businesses that count on tourism for their revenue to cut back jobs and it will decrease the states revenue from taxes. On the bright side it will encourage tourists to go to states that want their business.
They need to close all state facilities (rest areas, parks, police stations, road ways, hwy maintenance, etc..) and raise gas taxes. Politicians can then increase their pay and benefits. They are so inept at managing budgets, if they cut everthing except taxes they they won't have anything to manage - but their own pay (what a deal). Heck with serving the public.
I feel many people,as we do, use Arizona State parks prior and after visiting Mexico. Nogales has one of the best border crossings. We greatly
enjoy the State parks as compaired to privet RV parks. We hope They all will remain open.
Seems to me this is a case of "cutting off the nose" event. The cost of the parks is far less than the funds earned from travellers and residents who use the parks. I think the Governor should use his "line-item veto" and eliminate this item.
Many people are now using local parks for their vacations. If the parks are closed, then the State loses all the revenues. Short-sited way of balancing the budget; if needed, a short-term rise in fees would help pay for the parks operations. Closing some parks for short times
Very short-sighted. Many -residents & non-residents- use the campgrounds. If the parks are closed, many people won't have a place in the state to vacation. This will create a greater loss of revenue for the state. Short-term fix: increase fees of 10%, but with sunset clause. If the parks are closed, many people will avoid AZ, which means the entire state loses. I hope the Governor uses the line-item veto to resolve this problem. For future, the state should develop & maintain a $$reserve to preclude closing the parks.
A private business would cut the staff to bare minimum and demand more productivity in order for the employees to keep their jobs. The problem is that AZ spends like usual until the money runs out, then they close things down completely. Instead of planning ahead and making wise and thoughtful cuts, governments tend to spend like there is no tomorrow until things collapse.
As the article states, the investment in the parks has a great return on the investment. There is no sense running the park system out of business without a more thoughful approach to the problem.
For shame, this idea of closures is a really bad idea.
As a traveller from Canada during the winter months, I truly enjoy Arizona's wonderful landscapes and people. I spend my dollars, and I would so miss the opportunity to continue to do so.
A really bad idea.
If the Governor signs this ridiculous Bill, I will spend my time and money in another state.
What kind of math is the AZ legislature using here? The article states "The bill cuts more than $9 million of Parks funds, leaving the agency with only about $10 million in its 2010 budget. That’s less than 30 percent of the agency’s normal funding" If I'm calculating correctly by these figures, the agency's normal funding is $30 - 40 million. The article goes on to state that "shutting down the Park’s annual contribution to the Arizona economy of more than $266 million". This seems to show that the state parks pulls in $266 million, but costs only about $30-40 million to run. Therefore, the income produced is over $200 million. So, to save $9 million ("just 4 percent of their goal") they'll throw away $200 million in profit. ?????????????? No wonder Arizona's economy is in trouble...
As a former Arizona resident this is truly a disappointing bit of information. We now live in Oregon and volunteer as campground hosts and enjoy it very much. Oregon state parks get a considerable amount of funding for their parks from the lottery. If I recall correctly there did not seem to be any shortage of establishments that sold lottery tickets. Why not use a portion of those funds for funding the state park system? Just wondering, since I'm not a legislator I don't have the unbounded wisdom that they posess.
Just close down the entire state of AZ. We are full time RVers (for the last 7 1/2 years) but have been vacationing in AZ since 1987. The state has gone down the tubes (population, pollution, poor urban and rural planning, sprawl). We have been spending less time there anyway, and with the pending closure of the state parks, we'll skip it entirely. Our only hope is that other states don't "learn" from AZ's shortsighted shoot-self-in-the-foot budgeting and follow their idiotic example of closing any or half or all of their beautiful state parks. Dumb ideas that make no sense usually pass, so I am not optimistic. Our national, state, and public park systems are treasures. What's more, as Anonymous pointed out above, doing the math, they generate positive $$$ revenue and tourist dollars for the state. Sure, let's dump 'em all and pave everything over.
I'll add my name to the list of snowbirds that come to Arizona to spend a few months - and more than a little cash - each winter.
If this goes ahead, it may be another reason to pick a new destination in future, hopefully common sense will prevail and analysis will
reveal the secondary impact of such a knee-jerk reaction.
I agree with all above. I hope they do this, because when lots of people stop coming to Arizona and spending their money, Arizona will learn their lesson. Businesses will suffer and that means less taxes coming to the coffers. Now this makes lots of sense to me. When you have so many dumb asses in government, which makes mistake after mistake and then want to screw the people some more to try and fix it, you do these kinds of things to them. They can't look any farther ahead than the end of their noses. If we ran our personal lives like they run the government, we would all be in deep shit now. Well I say, they can all go to hell. Personally I don't give a damn. We will make out just fine without them. I hope they get into deeper trouble now. Just run the state into the ground with dummies.
I live in AZ and use the State parks for vacations with my family. They are truely a crown jewel and one of the last affordable vacations we have been able to take in this down economy. The problem is not the money to keep the parks operating. As many of you have stated, it is the short sightedness of our state legislators. The parks are funded well through lottery earnings and other spcecific revenue sources slated for the parks. The problem is, the legislators STOLE the money to pay for other programs that were broke or not self supporting. In fact, there was a local news story just last week where a lady left the parks $250K in her will. Well, you guessed it, the legislators STOLE her money also to use where they saw fit to try to balance the bankrupt state budget. It's amazing to me that it is legal to do this, but in AZ it apparently is? All I can say after writing the Governor and State Legislators to no avail, is I am coming after them with my vote...or in this case voting for anyone who is running against these morons. It truely is a sad time for AZ.
What a sad day for residents and also visitors of Arizona. It makes you wonder if the legislatures'intent is to close the parks and sell them off to cover their budget shortfalls or has this been on their agenda all along. Shortsighted and does not address the long term budget concerns. Once the land is sold, it is gone for ever. What will they want to sell off for next years'budget. Maybe they should look at auctioning off some of the state legislators.
If Arizona parks close or are sold, we will look at spending our thousands of Canadian dollars in another state that had the foresight to maintain their state parks.
It is such a shame that Arizona would consider closing and selling of their State Parks. My husband and I are new full time RVers and Arizona was one of our destinations. We always enjoy visiting State Parks where ever we may visit so hearing that Arizona will be closing their parks really makes us rethink where we may stay. This would also mean we would be spending our Canadian dollars in another State. Arizona legislators should realize that the dollars they will loose will have a diffinite impact not just in the present but in the long term.
Sounds to me like the state of Arizona will now become part of Mexico. These stupid legislators should be PERMANENTLY FIRED from their so called jobs themselves.
Follow the money. If the parks CLOSE who will benefit financially? If the parks SELL who will benefit financially? A thousand to one you will find legislators or their sponsors on the beneficial end. Sorry to be so pessimistic but I believe what I said.
How stupid are the state officials. By closing all the parks it will keep alot of campers & tourists away. Restaurants & stores will loose alot of business too. The state will loose more by closing the parks. There are alot of RVers who do workamping that would gladly help out with maintenance, cleaning, manning the booths & running the parks. Give them an RV site with hookups & they will be more then willing to help.
Idaho closed one of its nice state parks because of budget cuts, it came up 144,000 short on funds. It was pointed out in a meeting that the state will lose millions in revenue from campers buying things from the area around the campground. But useing the new math Idaho could not see this and shut Dworshak state park down. So Arizona is not alone in the stupid class
For the latest information about this issue and "what you can do," visit the following websites or Facebook pages:
WEB
* Arizona State Parks Foundation: http://arizonastateparksfoundation.org/
* Arizona Heritage Alliance: http://www.azheritage.org
FACEBOOK
* Arizona State Parks: http://www.facebook.com/AZStateParks
* Arizona Preservation Foundation: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Arizona-Preservation-Foundation/83815914049
We left Az yesterday returning from Christmas vacation. This wasn'tur 1st time in Az and may be our last. Az has shut down nearly all interstate rest areas. Though we don't know exactly why, we are pretty sure the almighty dollar played a major role. We love the national parks and there are many in Az. We planned to return to many of them but now we are not sure. With the rest areas closed, Az is becoming a dangerous state to drive through, as truckers, RVers and all others don't have places to pull over, resulting in fatigued drivers. Most truck stops limit parking to 1 hr (is this a state law?). Close the state parks too??? I'm sorry, but Az is proving that they are truly in the driving business... driving faithful tourists to other states.
i volunteer at a state park in az and i hope they dont close it us and the other volunteers work more hrs than requried and we do it with pride we are full most of the time and we try to make everyones stay as pleasant as possibable we have a lot of repeat people we travel all summer and tell people what a great state park we have here and to come and visit them the prices are some of the cheapest in the country they could raise the prices and people would still come so dont know why they would close it hope it doesnt would be a great loss to the steat and the rvers
from roper lake state park
We have never traveled through the southwest without stopping in Arizona for a period of time to enjoy their parks. Frequently, these trips have been on the way to/from Mexico. With safety being such a major issue in traveling to Mexico, it was our intention to spend those weeks in Arizona. If Arizona doesn't want our tourist dollar, we will spend it elsewhere. How sad that the legislature is not forwarding thinking enough to understand the impact this decision will make on the local economies. Snowbirds will winter somewhere else and Arizona is the loser. Line your pockets, gentlemen. Politicians are the same no matter where they are from.
just stupid people doing stupid things
The government can't do anything right, are we surprised that this is happening. And we think they are going to run a health program by taking money from...Medicare..that is already in trouble. If we handled our personal funds like the government we would all be in jail for not being able to pay our debts. They spend money and we all have to pay for it.
Let them know that we will vote anyone out making these decisions. How very stupid to cut a program that brings in more money in so many ways than it takes to run it.
Common sense ??? I agree with the comments from all the RVers. Legislators don't get it.
Maybe they should reduce their salaries to compensate for shortages.
I will be a new camper this year and will forgo this stop. I feel that what they are doing will not help there economy but will hurt it.
OH BOY!! The same old fight that's been going on for at least 20 years!! If you really, REALLY read the proposal, it's a landgrab by developers along the Colorado river to develop the new hydroponic plant. It's been tossed around for some time to shut down Glen Canyon dam and build a new one down river. It's the same stupid wording that Shanghai, China uses in order to justify the landgrab (don't have the money to run our historic neighborhoods) just so developers can stuff their pockets!! It's crooked politics, not lack of funding! Tell the developers to GO TO H---!!!
Maybe someone in the Arizona
government should paraphrase
the country song "There is no
Sedona" and put signs up at both
the California state line crossing
and New Mexico(on I-40) saying
"there is no Arizona". Think about
the long haul truckers that relied
on roadside rests for their
mandatory overnights. They are
harassed by Arizona highway patrol
troopers for pulling off on sideroad shoulders for these
rests and forced to drive on in
unsafe conditions on account of
this inanity on the part of
Governor Jan Brewer. She is
threatening to close the one
state park that is continually
producing revenue(to wit Kartchner
Caverns in Benson).
What a narrow minded legislators. Take the money out of there pork and keep what is good for the people. One day we will get smart and can those short sighted people and get someone in there that will represent the people and not themselves. It can be done folks
I have beena camper and trucker since 1958.Gov. spending has put me out of business thru mandates and taxes. So I retired to a rv.I fore see the same thing happening in this area.Let the politians lose their health care and retirement and get medicare and social security like the rest of us and then there would be money to fund more useful things like national and state parks.This whole bunch in washington and the states need to be fired.
Maybe all us tourists who use AZ rest areas and state parks should form a boycott if this silly shortsighted legislation gos through.
Well, what can you expect? Keep in mind that the idiots who want to close all the state parks (probably their most reliable source of state income right now) are the same idiots that got this state into bankruptcy with their lack of financial responsibility to begin with. Remember that these are the same folks who want to sell off the government buildings to raise funds. And then pay rent forever at the taxpayers' expense? Talk about robbing Peter to pay Paul. And who will they rob when Peter is bankrupt?
Arizona voters, if your town depends on the dollars the snowbirds bring in, keep all of this in mind next time you go to the polls to vote on which morons you put into office.
And snowbirds, please don't stop visiting our state because of our lack of judgment when installing politicians who made promises they never meant to keep, but only ran to stuff their own pocket as much as possible before we boot them out of office. Hopefully, we are older and wiser now. Those of us who live here want you to return. Please don't give up on our state.
Like one of the other people commented... have those people live like the common folk do,,, no healthcare,,, SS for an income and gas prices up to the limit again and again! WHere do they expect our wildlife to go... this will just drive them into the cities! We, of course, don't even get a SS cost of living raise but we KNOW they get their million $ raises and we are kept in the dark! Just who do these people think they are, HOW did they get where they are,,, they were voted in by people who thought they CARED about regular people! IT is obviouse they don't!
Marijo... MN RVer
I live in Arizona,close to the Tonto Natural Bridge park. When it was in private hands the house on site was open, a snack/restaurant in service and the road was unpaved. The state bought it, closed the house and food service,paved the road and upped the admission price.
This is an improvement?
Next they let the roof on the house deteriorate.
This is good stewardship?
As a 30 year resident of AZ I welcome anything that helps reduce the influx of visitors and tourists. I do not benefit in any way from the increased traffic and crowded stores. And besides that I don't benefit from the AZ state parks either since when I have a chance to get away I normally leave the state. AZ has become one giant trash can as can be witnessed by the abundance of litter along it's highways, most of which is deposited by the pigs that sneak across our southern border and I don't know why any self respecting tourist would want to visit. You can see the same thing AZ offers by visiting your local landfill. And for those of you that think that the current AZ administration is responsible for the state's miserable fiscal situation are overlooking the fact that the huge deficit was created by our former governor Janet Incompetano who is now our Homeland Security Secretary where she is displaying her worthlessness on a national stage.
What a dumb idea. Seems to me AZ needs a complete legislator change. I haven't had the opportunity to see this state yet and may never want to....
How can they be that desparate?
We have lost sight of what is important in this country, our priorities are so out of wack!
The math being used is most likely a way to transfer property cheaply to their buddies. Part of big bend Texas almost was lost to a $45 dollar an acre bid. Bet you the temporary revenue won't even begin to approach what may be fair market value. We were going to vacation their this spring. Guess now we will avoid it like plague. Fools.
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