Utah's state parks are in crisis.
The 43 facilities that host 4.8 million visitors a year are reeling from budget cuts, which have slashed general funding from $12.2 million to $6.8 million in recent years.
Acting on a 2011 performance audit of Utah State Parks and cutting all state budgets amid low tax revenues and a recession, legislators slashed $3 million in funding — just under 10 percent of the agency's budget — for the fiscal year that started Friday. More cuts could be made. (To see an interactive map of the park system, go to http://bit.ly/js5nln ).
What that means is that 23 full-time employees — about 10 percent of the agency's staff — either retired or were laid off before the new fiscal year started. Visitors to Utah state parks will notice restrooms are not cleaned as often, fewer rangers and workers patrol parks, seasons or hours are shorter, some facilities are closed and golf courses are not quite as manicured.
"What scares me is if people on a lake, trail or campground need assistance [there may be no one] on a shift to take care of them," said State Parks Director Mary Tullius. "I hope we don't lose lives as a result of this."
She said Utah state parks are about out of options. If cuts continue, the first closures of state parks since 2002 will be impossible to avoid. Every park and program is being closely examined to see if it is essential.
"There is no more fluff to cut, not a penny," Tullius said. "We are past those pennies. If it gets worse next year, we can't avoid park closures. I am not looking forward to that."
Marty Ott, vice chairman of the Utah State Parks Board, put it another way: "At some point, you can't do more with less," he said. "You have to do less with less. That is where we are now. You can't keep cutting funding and expect a high level of service. Legislators tell me everybody must feel the pain. That is B.S. You get a great deal for the small amount of money that you put into the system."
Utahns pay $2.42 each in taxes to fund state parks.
Nationally, many state park systems face similar problems. A report by the National Trust for Historic Preservation said the economic downturn has affected parks in at least 26 states.
Many Utah legislators view parks as a nice but nonessential service, which needs to be operated more like a business and take in more cash.
"We will do whatever it takes to keep parks open, but we want them streamlined and not to be fat cats," said Sen. David Hinkins, R-Orangeville, co-chairman of the appropriations committee that sets funding for Utah State Parks.
Mike Styler, the director of the Utah Department of Natural Resources (DNR), which oversees state parks, doesn't see the agency asking for the $3 million in general funds lost this year to be restored. He thinks most of that can be made up if the Legislature will authorize parks to spend more restricted funds collected from off-highway vehicle and boat registrations, and day-use and campground fees.
"We are moving more toward dependence on restricted funds and less on general funds," he said. "We think we can operate on less general funds, and we believe we can generate more revenue at the gate. We want to have more ease of access to our restricted funds. If the Legislature allows us to use those other funds, we would be all right."
Styler said the DNR actually asked for the legislative audit, which lawmakers used as an excuse to cut general funds. He said he wanted auditors' take on how parks can be more efficient.
"There are no surprises in that audit," he said. "It identified most of the things they [lawmakers] have been working on. There is not a finding we disagreed with."
But some park managers were surprised. For example, at Green River State Park, manager Eugene Swalberg had always thought he needed to stay within the budget to operate his park. He was shocked when the audit included administrative costs for the Salt Lake City and Moab regional offices, which he has no control over.. Those costs resulted in auditors saying that taxpayers were subsidizing each round of golf at $66 per round. Auditors listed the Green River course as one of five state parks that should be considered for closure.
The other four parks on that hit list — Edge of the Cedars in Blanding, Territorial Statehouse in Fillmore, the Frontier Homestead in Cedar City and the Utah Field House in Vernal — are among the agency's eight museum-like heritage parks in rural communities.
"I don't know if we will ever to be able to make heritage parks self-sustaining," said Hinkins, who said that perhaps some of the money to keep those parks operating should come from education budgets.
In 2010, state park workers taught 36,437 children in Junior Ranger and education programs in and out of classrooms.
The debate about keeping heritage parks open raises fundamental questions about how state parks are funded:
Should they be expected to break even or even show a profit? Museum experts say such facilities are not designed as money makers.
Do their value as educational facilities and repositories to preserve important parts of state history justify taxpayer subsidies?
Should they be funded jointly by the counties and cities that benefit?
Could they be operated better by a different government entity such as a university?
Or should they simply be closed because lawmakers feel their value isn't worth the tax subsidy?
Styler, a former state legislator, is not certain some lawmakers understand the mission of parks.
"There are social goods that come from museums and historical sites that society has felt OK about propping up with tax dollars," the DNR director said. "It seems like they [legislators] are less supportive of educational and historical values. I don't know if that is our fault for not educating legislators or if it is just a concern about diminishing budgets or a mixture of both."
Tullius thinks these parks should be subsidized because they preserve valuable bits of Utah history.
"There is a level that all taxpayers can help state parks be there for their generation and future generations," she said. "The heritage parks continue to tell the story of our past and of our ancestors. The other parks are there for health reasons — physical or emotional — as well as for quality of life and economic benefits that are huge to a community."
State parks can be particularly valuable to small rural communities, where every job is important, where some parks provide recreation and community gathering places and where tourist dollars are essential to keeping businesses open.
Ask Ray's Tavern owner Cathy Gardner what the Green River State Park golf course means to her business. She says keeping it open is mandatory because her workers enjoy playing the course and because the facility brings in needed business in the off-season. She's so committed to the course that she and at least three of her employees are willing to donate 50 hours a week.
Todd McFarland of East Carbon lives in a trailer in Green River because he is working to clean up uranium tailings in Moab. He calls the golf course the only entertainment in town. But state-owned courses seem to be a sore spot with lawmakers.
While Wasatch State Park's original courses turn a profit, Soldier Hollow, Palisade and Green River require subsidies.
While Tullius said golf is important in providing affordable recreation, changes are being made.
Courses have been given three years to establish enterprise funds to help them come close to breaking even. An enterprise fund basically is designed to make the courses self-sufficient by managing them to spend only what they can take in. Tullius said no general tax dollars will be used to operate golf courses. Managers are being encouraged to seek other funding. As many operations as possible will be combined at Wasatch and Soldier Hollow. Managers are also asked to do a better job of marketing, especially in smaller towns. And she hopes an improving economy will allow more rounds to be played.
"We've got to get the target off our back with golf," she said.
Ott, who spent most of his professional career working for the National Park Service, thinks parks should receive taxpayer dollars because they are different from a business.
"To say parks should be run more like a business is the easy way out," he said. "Those comments never come from park-management professionals. ... They were not designed and never were designed to pay their own way."
wharton@sltrib.com
Twitter: @tribtomwharton
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By the numbers: Utah State Parks
Number of parks • 43 (eight heritage, seven scenic, 28 recreation)
2010 visitation • 4,842,918
Visitor spending in direct economic benefit • $67 million. The parks generate $9.85 in state economic impact for every $1 general fund appropriation.
Acres owned • 83,000
Land and water managed • 111,150 acres of land, 1.5 million surface acres of water
Full-time employees • 220
Temporary employees • 122
Volunteer hours • 107,534
Developed campsites • 1,383
Primitive campsites • 607
Cabins • 13
Yurts • Five
Golf • Three parks, 99 holes
Marinas • Five
Concession services • 41 operations in 18 parks
Groomed • 25,000 miles of snowmobile trails
Worth of fixed assets • $196 million
Each Utahn's average contribution in sales and use taxes • $2.42. Park user fees pay for 64 percent of operations; tax dollars pay 31 percent; grants account for 5 percent.
Source: Utah State Parks —
Utah State Parks mission statement
To enhance the quality of life by preserving and providing natural, cultural and recreational resources for the enjoyment, education and inspiration of this and future generations.
