Thread: 15 State parks on closing list

Gulf state park not on cut list.Budget cuts are the main problem.Who makes money to be on safe list.Got to see more this coming week about the closing.Its going to be ugly.
Gulf State Park seems ok for now.Keep an eye on this guys.

yea one of my favorites Guntersville closing.

Beautiful place. And all the eagle watches. Hate to see that go.

I think it is rather asinine to close the parks when 85% of their funding comes from their own revenue.

The funding is being diverted, so no one we elected has to put up any effort, other than kicking the can down the road. Statesmanship in office. Sadly, we keep electing the same ones, and look for different results.

This ploy has been tried more times than Saturday night date hits on highschool cheerleaders.
Don't fall for it.
Bentley was elected twice on a conservative ticket by overwhelmingly conservative voters.
Now he's showing his 'true stripes'
This is a political CoS!
Our license and usage fees support the Department of Conservation and the State Park system...
Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The department receives no funding from the state general fund. Funds are generated through the sale of hunting and fishing licenses, boat registration fees, oil and gas royalties from leases of state lands, and State Parks usage fees. The funds are supplemented with federal matching funds.

Report: 15 state parks on closure list, including Guntersville, Cheaha | AL.com

Alabama State Parks Director Greg Lein issued a statement earlier saying state lawmakers intend to transfer $11.4 million from the 2016 budget appropriation for the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Most of that money - $10.4 million - would come from state parks, because most of conservation money is committed to match federal dollars.

So the politicians answer to save the state is deny citizens use of what is rightfully theirs?

Pier#r hit the nail on the head. Bentley is pulling the same stunt that Obama did in the so called government shutdown, (We could only hope for a true government shut down.) Instead of managing efficiently, cutting waste, indulgent spending etc. He's trying to cause pain just to show us that we need to pay more taxes. After working for over 35 years in government, I can tell you that any of us could go to Montgomery and in a week, find places to cut spending that would not effect services one bit.

It makes NO sense.
They have 58 million dollars to build a hotel and convention center that NObody wants,
but don't have 10 million to keep these parks open. BS!
Gulf State Park conference center project approved by BP oil spill trustees | AL.com

Gubernment never makes sense to sensible people ....and they always use wanted things by the public to get what they want.....up here it is always fire and police they threaten to cut .....same old, same old scare tactics and for some it works too .....I say cut there pay first and or job

The ADCNR gets very little money from the General Fund. Not zero, but relatively little in the grand scheme of things.
The vast majority of the General Fund money, as noted in the article, goes to State Parks, which does not have a matching federal funding source like the other Divisions have, like the Sportfish Restoration Fund, Pittman–Robertson Fund for Wildlife Programs, CZMA funds, etc...

Your license fees go to support the Marine Resource Division and the Freshwater Fisheries and Wildlife Divisions. Period. Very little, maybe none of it goes to Parks Division (maybe some boat ramp money, that would be about it).

State Parks is the only division to receive a significant (small but significant) portion of its operational cost from the General Fund. Remove that ~$10 million from the Parks budget and how the hell do you expect them to keep the lights on????

Use Fees at State Parks is the main support for the Parks system. It used to be when there was an operational lodge at GSP, its surplus revenues, plus surplus from 3-4 other big parks, supported all the parks that didn't collect enough fees. Without the GSP Lodge funding source, the Parks system has been struggling to keep the in the black. The pittance it gets from the General Fund kept the system afloat. Now our wonderful legislature wants to pull the safety net out from under Parks. What the hell do you want them to do? Raise fees even more? People already complained when they did that. You can't staff a park when you can't pay your employees. And if you think any employee at any park is over paid, look online at the State Personnel website and see what the park staff is paid. And remember a lot of their employees are seasonal, with no benefits.

And the NRDA funds for renovating GSP & rebuilding the lodge can only be spent on that project. It cannot be spent to fund other parks. Never could be. So that is a non-starter. Period. Don't mixt the two issues.

I think that real tragedy here is that this state has economic and industrial development in full swing all over the state: new or expanded factories in Mobile, Montgomery, Auburn/Opelika, Tuscaloosa, Huntsville Area.
Unemployment has dropped to pre-recession levels.

But yet our legislators cant seem to find the money to fund our state government.
Talking about only operating the already back-logged courts system 3 days a week.
Talking about turning out criminals from our prisons, putting them back on the street.
Taking away the only General Fund money the Park System gets.

The "waste & inefficiency" has been cut. There is very little to nothing left to cut. The legislators have already cut all the General Fund state agencies to the bone, the number of state employees per capita is the lowest its ever been, they raised employee contributions to health insurance & retirement and have given no cost of living raise since 2007. Last year, state employees for their first raises since 2007. Teachers got raises, state employees did not between 2007 and 2014.

I can tell you that State Parks is not bluffing. Not blowing smoke. That they haven't closed parks already is a testament to how well they have been able to manage the system. If the legislators cuts them and doesn't authorize other funds, there is no other authorized revenue source to keep Parks Division afloat. The ADCRN can't just transfer around funds authorized for other programs to Parks, its not legal.
If the legislators cut the little but of General Fund money that Parks Division receives, they will start closing parks.

You want the parks to stay open? Tell your local legislator to find a way not to cut the funds for Parks. You would think that if the people of Alabama really loved our state parks, which are some of the most beautiful in the world, they would be calling their legislators and telling them not to cut the funds instead of attacking the people who struggle every day to keep the parks operating. But apparently its easier to put all the blame Parks employees.