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Supporters of state parks are celebrating the fact that five, including Caledon in King George (above), will stay open. |
By RUSTY DENNEN
Virginians wrote letters, made phone calls, sent e-mails and got the word out any way they could, and lawmakers got the message: Don't close any state parks.
Unveiling his budget last month, Gov. Bob McDonnell proposed temporarily shuttering five Virginia parks to help get the state through its financial crisis.
Within hours, groups such as the Virginia Association for Parks were contacting members and like-minded organizations to head off the plan.
Caledon Natural Area in King George County, False Cape State Park in Virginia Beach, Mason Neck in Fairfax County, Twin Lakes in Prince Edward County and Staunton River Battlefield in Halifax and Charlotte counties were on the chopping block. Closing them would save about $500,000 a year--not much help in cutting $2.3 billion.
"Virginians revere their parks," Virginia Association for Parks President Johnny Finch said last week as the House and Senate were wrapping up their budgets, which did not include the park closures.
"There are a bunch of people who are avid park supporters. You start adding the organizations they belong to, family and friends" and the result is lots of attention, Finch said. "It's like an avalanche."
Park supporters, including members of the Rappahannock Group Sierra Club, fired off letters to House and Senate budget committees. Within days, Sen. Mary Margaret Whipple, a Northern Virginia Democrat and member of the Senate Finance Committee, said publicly, "We are not closing any state parks."
That's not the case in some other states. Arizona, for example, is closing 13 of 22 state parks to cover an $8.6 million budget cut for the department.
In his letter to Whipple and other key legislators, Finch argued that the economic benefit of the parks far exceeds any savings from closing them.
He said the parks together generate about $5.6 million annually.
"Virginia State Parks are a critical and vital part of the tourism infrastructure of rural communities. If it's important to invest in tourism and reopen highway rest stops, it's similarly important to keep our award-winning parks open to the public," he wrote.
Finch said of the latest developments, "We think we've driven a stake through the heart of this."
House and Senate conferees are working on a final budget. McDonnell can propose additional amendments or use his line-item veto power. The General Assembly adjourns March 13.
Gary Waugh, spokesman for the state Department of Conservation and Recreation, said that with the closure plans out of the budget, "We're hoping that means it's pretty much a moot point."
The agency, meanwhile, is monitoring proposed cuts in other conservation programs--the Water Quality Improvement Fund and the Virginia Land Conservation Foundation.
Rusty Dennen: 540/374-5431
Email: rdennen@freelancestar.com
