Group rallies against park closures

BIG LAKE -- A group of Republican state lawmakers went to the closed-down Big Lake South State Park Friday to say something to the administration of Gov. Tony Knowles.

"We hope to give our message. Open these parks!" Wasilla senator Lyda Green told the crowd assembled for the morning press conference called by the Republican legislators.

The state Division of Parks announced plans last month to close nine Mat-Su state parks and another in Fairbanks due to a $186,000 budget shortfall for fiscal year 2003. House and Senate Republicans at Friday's press conference contend the parks division actually received an increase from this year's budget, making parks closures unnecessary.

The Valley's legislative delegation called the press conference and came armed with handouts and bulletin boards presenting their reading of the budget numbers. Also on hand were lieutenant governor hopeful Sen. Robin Taylor, R-Wrangell, and Sen. Loren Leman, R-Anchorage. They say it's clear the Mat-Su parks were political targets rather than required cutbacks.

"It's because Mat-Su elects Republicans," Rep. Scott Ogan, R-Palmer, said.

Not so, contends Pat Pourchot, commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources, which oversees parks. And he expressed confusion over where the legislators got their figures.

"No one leaving the session quibbled with the $186,000 figure," Pourchot said Friday from Anchorage, referring to the shortfall. "If I had the money, I wouldn't close the parks. But there was no secret what we had to do. These closures weren't dreamed up after the session after they went home."

Green didn't seem to dispute that the lawmakers had notice as to potential impacts during the budget discussions this spring.

"Just because someone tells you something's going to happen doesn't make it right," Green said. The Legislature told parks they didn't want to see closures and for parks to make statewide cuts if the division didn't have enough money to operate at current levels, she said.

Ogan also put responsibility on the division to tighten its belt.

"If your household budget is cut three-and-a-half percent, you can absorb it," Ogan said.

But Pourchot said it does not work that way. The division has been flat-funded for so long that their budgets no longer have the flexibility to find ways to scrimp on operations. Any shortfall means cutting jobs, he said. The way Mat-Su's parks are clustered over a 150-mile stretch made it easier to eliminate more positions for increased savings, he said.

With the current cuts, Mat-Su will lose two park rangers positions and three seasonal workers, while Fairbanks will also cut one ranger and another seasonal employee. One of the Mat-Su ranger spots will be transferred to different duties, Pourchot said.

Lawmakers also criticized the division for choosing to prematurely close parks in the Valley or not open them at all when the alleged budget cuts don't go into effect until July 1.

Mat-Su parks didn't open state recreation sites at King Mountain, Big Lake or Rocky Lake shut down for the off-season. Camping loops at Mat-Su Glacier, Big Lake North and Lake Louise all close June 21, while the outhouses there are already boarded up. Kepler Bradley State Recreation Area, a day-use area, will be gated June 21. The public can still go onto the state land but there will be no maintenance or park rangers patrolling.

Some of the facilities don't typically open until after Memorial Day, and the division chose to not reopen them after the winter closure for only one month, Pourchot said.

"We can't physically close everything properly on the last day," he continued. "We picked a phasing closure that made sense."

Another complaint leveled at the administration is that closing the parks could end up costing more than operating them, Ogan said, pointing to a $250,000 price tag Pourchot himself put forth as the cost to close the parks. The parks instead could depend on volunteers or private contractors to run the parks, Ogan said. Or the division could bring in some of the state's low-risk prisoners from the Valley's jails to clean the bathrooms and empty trash.

Pourchot said closing the parks permanently would indeed cost $250,000. However, parks employees are doing the bare minimum to shut down operations at the facilities. This decision makes the commissioner nervous because it leaves open the danger of vandalism and crime.

And the state will pursue the possibility of contracting out the facilities to private enterprise, Pourchot said. Big Lake South and North might be particularly suited for this, although, frequently, private contractors initial interest wanes when they realize how little the profit margin can be. Or the public might see the fees rise under private operation.

Using volunteers is less an option, Pourchot said. Situations simply become too onerous and sometimes too dangerous for volunteer campground hosts.

"That's why we have rangers," he said. "Our rangers carry guns and they are trained in enforcement."