AUSTIN -- Battered by budget cuts, heat and wildfires as well as a mounting backlog of maintenance issues, the once-again beleaguered Texas state park system may have to close 20 sites if additional funding isn't secured, officials say.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is asking the Legislature for an $18.9 million boost in funding to maintain its system of 95 parks. Without the additional money, the agency "anticipates closing up to 20 state parks," according to its appropriations request with the Legislative Budget Board."It's just an unfortunate situation that we just don't have enough money to operate all those parks," parks director Brent Leisure said. The agency could also be forced to cut a regional office and 126 positions, officials said.The parks department and scores of other agencies are expected to get an initial glimpse of their budget outlook for the next two years when the Legislative Budget Board releases its spending recommendations Monday. The recommendations will be followed by draft budgets from the House and Senate that will begin lawmakers' traditionally contentious budget debate, which could last five months.Unlike the 2011 session, when lawmakers faced a steep revenue shortfall after the recession, the 83rd Legislature, which convened last week, is starting work with an unexpectedly large pot of money to fund state government for two years. State Comptroller Susan Combs projected that $101.4 billion in state general-purpose revenue will be available for 2014-15, $30 billion-plus more than the current two-year budget.While hailing the revenue increase as good news, Gov. Rick Perry and legislative leaders have vowed to vigorously resist any attempts at a spending spree, saying they will apply the same conservative principles that have helped shape recent budgets in the Republican-led Legislature.Much of the state bureaucracy is calling for a boost in funding after lawmakers slashed $15 billion in services in 2011. Officials in smaller agencies may have trouble making their case as state leaders focus their attention on high-dollar issues such as water, transportation and education.Park boosters -- including outdoor enthusiasts, environmentalists, the tourism industry and scores of small towns dependent on dollars from nearby parks -- are uniting behind the call for additional money to avert what they say is a looming crisis."It makes no sense to cut these types of services when our population is growing," said Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth. "The idea of cutting back on park services is a horrible idea."A coalition of park supporters has begun a campaign to pressure lawmakers for additional funding, said Luke Metzer, founder and director of the Environment Texas advocacy organization."We're going to be knocking on doors, educating the public about the plight of our parks," he said. "Our hope is that the Legislature finally responds and gives the parks more money to prevent any closures."Leisure said the parks department hasn't identified any parks for potential closure, saying that decision won't be made until it gets a better idea of its budget during the Legislature's deliberations. The department would probably still be forced to close an undetermined number of parks - though not as many as 20 - if it gets some, but not all, of the $18.9 million, he said.Unless lawmakers grant additional funds, closure is essentially the only avenue left, said Leisure, since park officials have exhausted other options including reducing hours and trimming staff. "You can reduce operations in some way to save money," he said, "but we've already done that."Dozens of parks are within a half-day's drive of the Metroplex, including Possum Kingdom, Ray Roberts Lake and Cedar Hill. Palo Pinto Mountains State Park, about 80 miles west of Fort Worth near Strawn, is being developed to serve residents in Tarrant County and other parts of the Metroplex but may be years from opening.Leisure mentioned Ray Roberts and Cedar Hill as two parks that would likely be safe from closure because of their popularity, but he said it is premature to speculate which ones would be shuttered. Even if the state closes some operations, he said, it would still be responsible for overseeing the property."We couldn't just simply walk away from them," he said. "You've got to secure them. We have responsibilities to protect those resources."The department submitted a base budget proposal of $507.1 million for the upcoming biennium, which starts Sept. 1, plus $103 million in increased appropriations to restore cuts made in previous legislative sessions. The request includes the $18.9 million in park funding as well as money to restore local park grants, buy vehicles and equipment, carry out repairs and construction, and restore fishing and wildlife funding. The department's total budget request is about $610 million.The health and funding of the park system has been on a roller-coaster ride for years. In 2006, after a decade of fiscal neglect, the 625,000-acre network of forests, prairies, mountains, deserts and beaches had become a tourism wasteland of funky bathrooms, leaky cabins, inoperable water systems and shuttered campgrounds.A public outcry over the decay prompted lawmakers to pump cash into the system. They upped the parks budget from $70.1 million in 2007 to $87.4 million in 2008, $91.7 million in 2009 and $92.2 million in 2010.The turnaround spurred a renaissance of sorts as the agency replenished staffing, replaced equipment, repaired infrastructure and spruced up structures.But the bottom fell out again in 2011, as lawmakers, grappling with revenue declines brought on by the economic downturn, once again whacked the parks operating budget.Worse still, the suffocating heat that summer curtailed park usage and fueled wildfires that ravaged Bastrop and Possum Kingdom state parks, causing around $10 million in damage.Those setbacks prompted the department to issue an unprecedented public plea for assistance in December 2011 in hope of closing a $4.6 million budget shortfall. The effort netted about $2 million, said Leisure, who added that it was a "one-time shot that was not a sustainable option for the future."'Still need help'For now, the system has made every cut it can make, said Ralph Duggins, a Fort Worth attorney and vice chairman of the Texas Wildlife Commission."That's why without a long-term fix we are likely to have to close some parks," he said, noting that in December the Legislature gave the system an extra $3 million to spend on parks this year."That made us feel like the Legislature is listening, but we still need help. We've got to stabilize the revenue stream," Duggins said. The only viable long-term solution is for the Legislature to appropriate the dedicated funds that are supposed to go to parks from a sporting goods tax on outdoor equipment that was passed into law in 1993, he said."It came to about $127 million in 2007. But it is subject to appropriations which means you can't get it unless they appropriate it," Duggins said."We're cautiously optimistic that the Legislature recognizes the problem and is moving to fix it," he said.K.D. Boyd, a retiree from Granbury, said repeated budget cuts over the last decade have had a noticeable impact."What [the Legislature] has been doing, even after they restored funding a few years ago, they are still holding out the designated funding from the sporting goods tax which would fix the problem," he said."The parks have started going downhill. We don't go much anymore. We started taking our RV to Arkansas where the parks are well-maintained. They do everything right; we do everything wrong," he said.That sort of reaction worries Terry Orr, the mayor of Bastrop, where the 2011 wildfire destroyed nearly 1,700 homes and 96 percent of Bastrop State Park.Major assetsState parks are key underpinnings for towns around Texas, he said."The park is an integral part of our economy. It's an entity of great value," Orr said."It's as much as an asset for us as the Kimbell Museum is in the city of Fort Worth."The Bastrop City Council passed a resolution last week urging the Legislature to adequately fund state parks and grant programs for local parks."We fully support the proper maintenance and funding for our state parks. They are state assets and they have to be maintained just like roads and state building," Orr said."Unfortunately, it's 'governmental easy' to cut funding for parks. It's just like in education where the easy thing is to cut librarians. But those kind of cuts don't pay off in the long run," he said.'Hurting again'John Cobb, the president of Texans for State Parks, says the biennial fight over funding is "getting old.""The parks are really hurting again. We are cut so deep right now that they have put off basic maintenance for seven of eight years. Every time this comes up it gets more and more dire," he said. "There's a lot of decaying infrastructure because all they can afford to do is patch stuff."The solution is also the "same old thing" -- giving the system the full allotment of the sporting goods tax that it is supposed to receive, Cobb said."That's what the law was passed for. What's irritating is that you expect to see some relief but they only give enough to where they can say they gave something," he said.George Bristol, founder and president of the Texas Coalition for Conservation, says he's "hopefully optimistic" that the Legislature will do something about the diversion of dedicated funds."They are studying the diversion of funds and not just for parks and wildlife. There are about $5 billion in funds from user fees that are either diverted or not spent as a kind of a back-door way to balance the budget," he said."Frankly, there's a lot of embarrassment about it because it's a bait-and-switch deal. Speaker Joe Strauss is really pushing for some recommendations on how to address that," he said.The "most bulletproof" way to ensure that the sporting goods tax goes to park funding is to put it in a constitutional amendment, Bristol said."All of the polls show that the public would overwhelmingly support that," he said."People like parks and they think the sporting goods tax is a fair way to fund them."Dave Montgomery is the Star-Telegram's Austin bureau chief. 512-739-4471Twitter: @daveymontgomerySteve Campbell, 817-390-7981What is the most pressing issue facing the 83rd Texas Legislature?
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