A state parks budget squeeze

LINCOLN — Visitors to Nebraska and Iowa state parks might see some shaggy grass this weekend.

And later this year, Cornhusker State campers will see fewer bathrooms open at some recreation areas and, possibly, shorter visitor hours at historic parks.

Thank not only the rainy weather, but also a drought in operating funds.

In Nebraska, the state park system enters the fiscal year that began Wednesday with about 5.5 percent, or about $1.5 million, less operating money than the previous fiscal year.

In Iowa, all state agencies took a 15 percent budget cut.

The unmown grass is already evident in many Iowa parks, an Iowa official said, including popular Lake Manawa, south of Council Bluffs.

In Nebraska, some mowing has been reduced and more cutbacks are coming later this summer and fall as park managers begin wrestling with budgets that will probably be dropping at 55 of the 86 state parks, recreation areas and historical parks.

“We made a commitment to have the parks running full service through the Fourth of July weekend,” said Roger Kuhn, who oversees the state parks for the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. “After that, we're looking at reductions in services.”

It's a simple question of mathematics, Kuhn said.

A proposal to increase the annual state park entry sticker fee failed in the Nebraska Legislature this spring, costing about $800,000 to $900,000 in revenue.

Fees for things like park stickers, cabin rentals and camping pay about 70 percent of the cost of operating the state park system. With that revenue dropping, operating costs rising and the state's general fund support to Game and Parks increasing by only 2.5 percent, “something's got to give,” Kuhn said.

As of July 1, 19 vacant Game and Parks jobs were eliminated to help address budget woes. That is on top of two layoffs announced last month.

“We're not alone. There's a lot of states that are in worse condition than we are,” Kuhn said. “It's tough.”

Right now, the Game and Parks Commission has identified 31 state park areas to be “fully budgeted” for 2009-10. They include some of the state's most popular areas, such as Mahoney State Park near Ashland, Branched Oak Lake near Lincoln, Fort Robinson near Crawford and Lake McConaughy near Ogallala.

The 55 other state parks would see budget reductions of varying amounts that are still being worked out, Kuhn said.

Managers at those parks will decide how to handle the reductions, he said, but it could mean closing some bathrooms, mowing areas a couple of times a year instead of regularly, trimming visitor center hours or reducing programs or demonstrations at historical parks.

If volunteers step up with money or manpower, services at some of those 55 parks might not see a change, Kuhn added.

“We're open to anyone who wants to talk about ideas or helping out,” he said.

That has included turning over some smaller, more remote state recreation areas to others.

Arnold, a central Nebraska town of 630 people, has agreed to take over maintenance of the Arnold State Recreation Area. Atkinson, a north-central Nebraska ranching community of 1,244, is in talks to take over the Atkinson State Recreation Area.

Brownville, Neb., is considering taking over a state campground near that Missouri River town.

Scott Winfield, the village maintenance superintendent in Arnold, said it's well worth it to pay about $1,200 a year to mow the cottonwood-shaded park and fishing lake.

“It brings a lot of people to our town. When the state was going to put it on their minimum maintenance list, we didn't want to lose those people,” he said. “They all go to the convenience store, the grocery store and the taverns.”

Some volunteers are stepping up to help keep up state areas. A “friends” group has organized in central Nebraska to help head off anticipated cutbacks in visitor hours and programs at Fort Hartsuff State Historical Park near Elyria.

In Arnold, the Murphy Tractor implement dealer has donated mowers for cleanups. In Atkinson, the Boyd Mitchell equipment dealer has mowed the local recreation area for years and probably will be joined by more volunteers, said Lou Ann Tooker, the town's economic development director.

“It's definitely not a money maker, but it's an asset to the community, and it has a history,” Tooker said. “People grew up swimming and fishing out there, and they don't want to lose it.”

Next year, the Legislature will be asked to declare the Arnold and Atkinson state areas “surplus” so they can be donated to those communities.

Kuhn, the state parks official, said the state will have to make some big decisions when it draws up a budget in 2011. He said the state will need to raise its park fees — currently $20 a year and the lowest among the 37 states with park-entry permits — or look at new revenue sources to finance its parks.

Iowa' state parks bureau chief, Kevin Szcodronski, said his agency is “like all private people. We're hunkering down, waiting until we can climb out of this and be back in business.”

Iowa's 15 percent budget cut, Szcodronski said, has meant that nine vacant, full-time parks jobs won't be filled this year and that fewer than half of the normal seasonal workers were hired.

“If you drive through Lake Manawa, you'll see where we quit mowing. It's pretty obvious now,” he said. “No park was spared.”

Unlike Nebraska, Iowa has no state park entry permit. Most of its park budget comes from state taxpayer funds, not user fees.

But also unlike Nebraska, Iowa got good news from federal stimulus programs, which provided 100 AmeriCorps workers to fill in gaps at Hawkeye State parks.

“We're going to get through this summer not great, but OK,” said Szcodronski. “Next spring, if things don't get better, I don't know what we're going to do.”

Contact the writer:

402-473-9584, paul.hammel@owh.com