King 5 Story 3- 24 State Parks Whining About Lack of Funds (again)

[Elkaholic daWg]

http://www.king5.com/news/local/Times-At-100-state-parks-in-grim-state-of-disrepair-199778351.html


Local News

Mar 24, 2013

Times: At 100, state parks in grim state of disrepair

Washington State Parks turn 100 this month. But not since the Great Depression has the park system been so imperiled.

http://www.king5.com/news/local/Times-At-100-state-parks-in-grim-state-of-disrepair-199778351.html

by LYNDA V. MAPES / The Seattle Times



Posted on March 24, 2013 at 3:37 PM



 

Related:
•Times writer Lynda Mapes talks about imperiled state parks



Washington state’s park system turns 100 this year, but not since the Great Depression has it been so imperiled.

 In a park historic site near Chehalis, Washington’s first courthouse is rotting from the ground up. Outside Ellensburg, at Olmstead Place State Park, heirloom hand-stitched dresses are moth-eaten and the walls water-stained in one of the earliest farmsteads in Eastern Washington.

 At Lake Wenatchee State Park, extensive wreckage caused by winter storms is still lying on the ground, with another season about to open. At Flaming Geyser State Park in Auburn, a historic lodge renovated to host weddings — a hoped-for moneymaker for the parks — sits shuttered because there’s no money for needed water, sewer and electrical repairs.

 All over the state, many of Washington’s 117 parks, 700 historic buildings and 33 heritage centers and interpretive sites are showing signs of neglect and even abandonment as a result of dramatic budget cuts.

Read the full Seattle Times story.


http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2020628849_stateparksxml.html

[pianoman9701]

They should probably charge more for the Discover Pass. That worked so well.

[washelkhunter]

Too much for the state to keep up with. Privitize every state park with a campground and the operation of the state ferry system. 

[huntnphool]

I guess the $1.4 billion the WDFW estimated the wolves would generate from wildlife watching has fallen a little short.

[Wazukie]

One of two choices to be had, privatize all state parks or shut um down, plain and simple, at least in my view.

[bigtex]

One of two choices to be had, privatize all state parks or shut um down, plain and simple, at least in my view.

And the legislative answer this year is to start giving them more tax/general fund money.

[Heredoggydoggy]

What's the matter with you guys?  The Government fully expected us redneck neanderthal gun-toting lowlifes to fund the State Parks, and we let them down!  For shame!.... 

[spanky]

i blame the youth of the nation. they don't care about some building that was built 100 years ago they just want a new phone. if more people were visiting such sites they may be in better condition the past is fading with our grandparents pride in hard work

[Cap.Silver]

....and I blame somebody too  Why don't they take the wolf money and use that instead ?? Or get rid of the useless 5000 people at Wa state dept of L&I ....we don't need clerks for everything . or let's use the money we spend for these  useless speed signs on I-90 and I-5

[bigtex]

i blame the youth of the nation. they don't care about some building that was built 100 years ago they just want a new phone. if more people were visiting such sites they may be in better condition the past is fading with our grandparents pride in hard work

That aside, Most of the State Parks that have camping are packed every weekend during the summer. Maybe some rate increases are in order.

Already being talked about

[Special T]

The state and the Wa Parks refuse to make hard choices. Not every state park is valued... They could raise rates a little, and/OR they could put in some more camping spots. Some parks are PACKED day in day out. Many like Potholes State park get LOTS of use and are a great State investment. Others like many here on the West side are NOT good investments... Most day use parks do little/nothing to offset thier own costs.

The fact that the state cannot figure out how to make $ or keep a RENOVATED building open in Auburn shows a lack of prioreties.    Many peices of property have been donated to Wa state parks, or other organisations only to be sold off, because they did not "fit" well with thier mission.

[bigtex]

The state and the Wa Parks refuse to make hard choices. Not every state park is valued... They could raise rates a little, and/OR they could put in some more camping spots. Some parks are PACKED day in day out. Many like Potholes State park get LOTS of use and are a great State investment. Others like many here on the West side are NOT good investments... Most day use parks do little/nothing to offset thier own costs.

The fact that the state cannot figure out how to make $ or keep a RENOVATED building open in Auburn shows a lack of prioreties.    Many peices of property have been donated to Wa state parks, or other organisations only to be sold off, because they did not "fit" well with thier mission.

Agree 100%
There are parks which don't need to be WA Parks.
A problem Parks has been having is in some cases they are legally required to run it as a Park. There are numerous times when X Family gave the lands to Parks in 1950 to run it as a park and in the donation agreement it had to remain a park forever. So in this situation Parks either has to keep the land or move it to a city/county Parks department most of which are all cash strapped. They can't transfer the lands to DNR, WDFW, or the feds because they wont be "parks" anymore. So Parks basically has to keep it.

A similar thing happened in my community. Land was donated to the school district in the 50s and required the district ONLY operate it as school grounds and never sell it, district signed the deal and build the school. 2010 rolls around and they build the new school on newly acquired land in a safer area, plan being to sell off the original land (which be in the millions because of it's location). Ooops! During the sale process someone found out the district cannot legally sell the land. So now the district is scrambling to find some distant relative of the original donater to pursuade them to somehow change the deal. And the building has sat vacant for about 3 years.

[sled]

  We purposely do not go to state parks because they charge so much.  Maybe if the feed were not so high more people might use them.

[bigtex]

I've always said that DNR's Mt Si Natural Resource Conservation Area in King County should be under State Parks and not DNR. Here is why:

• Day use only
• Almost no hunting since it is day use only and the hike to get to the open hunting areas are 6-8 miles in
• Most people think it already is a State Park
• DNR's staff is rarely there as they have huge amounts of DNR land in the I-90/SR-18 area in King County, whereas Parks could easily have at least one LE Ranger assigned just to the mountain
• DNR is suppose to bring in revenue to the state via logging, no logging can occur within the NRCA

In my view Mt Si is essentially a state park with out the "park" name, as far as I know it is the most used DNR lands in the state. Olallie St Park just up I-90 has a couple trails and is almost all surrounded by USFS lands and has a year round LE Ranger. A he!l of a lot more revenue can be brought in to Parks by simply giving Olallie to the USFS, moving Mt Si to Parks and having that Ranger come a couple miles down 90 and work at Si.

[hiway_99]

How about raising the senior off season rate.  There only paying $6 a night.  I still pay $28 a night.

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