<!--Don Glynn--><table width="234" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" background="http://static.cnhi.zope.net/flashpromo/niagaragazette/images/byline_234x60.jpg" height="60"><tr><td><div align="center"><font size="3" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">By Don Glynn</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br /></font><font size="1" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a href="mailto:don.glynn@niagara-gazette.com">don.glynn@niagara-gazette.com</a></font></div></td></tr></table>
State Parks Commissioner Carol Ash predicted Tuesday that 2010 will be one of the most difficult years for the statewide parks system since Niagara Falls State Park was established 125 years ago.
Ash made the gloomy forecast while testifying in Albany before the Joint Fiscal Committees of the state Legislature on Gov. Paterson’s proposed state budget for 20110-11.
“We will make every effort to reduce costs in all parts of the agency’s budget — particularly in reducing administrative costs and eliminating all non-essential activities,” Ash pledged to the lawmakers.
Due to the current fiscal crisis and the fact that 85 percent of the parks agency budget is spent directly on park operations, Ash said, “We have moved well beyond our ability to manage budget cuts through administrative savings and service reductions.”
In a word, Ash said her agency will not be able to operate a number of facilities and programs that it has in the past.
An undetermined number of state parks will either close or be forced to reduce their operations as a result of the proposed $29 million reductions in the agency’s operating budget. Specific sites have yet to be announced.
She noted that during 2010 the parks agency will have 1,100 fewer people to operate and maintain its facilities, guard the swimming pools and beaches, clean bathrooms and provide police security. Last month, Mark Thomas, the western district director for the state parks, reported that his staff was down 12 full-time personnel in addition to a number of seasonal help not re-hired.
Ash also is concerned that park police staffing in the parks this summer will be down by 25 percent, or 70 uniformed officers from July 2008 levels.
In other testimony, the commissioner:
n Noted that the Niagara Falls State Park attracts nearly eight million visitors a year, its attendance greater than that of Grand Canyon and Yosemite National Parks combined.
n Reported that the statewide parks system generates about $85 million in revenue through user fees, concession contracts and other sources, which account for roughly 40 percent of its budget.
n Cautioned that numerous parks have significant health and safety concerns that require attention, such as obsolete water supply systems. Many park facilities like visitor centers, recreational sites, cabins, campgrounds, swimming pools, roads and bridges are aging and deteriorating.
Gov. Paterson’s 2010-11 Environmental Protection Fund budget includes $20 million for 25 capital construction projects.
Among them: $1.1 million for improving Fort Niagara State Park’s sewer system to meet state sanitary code standards and $1.5 million for designing another Goat Island Bridge. The landmark span was closed to vehicular traffic several years ago when chunks of concrete underneath the span fell into the rapids. Subsequently, a military-style bridge was placed atop the entire stone structure so it could still be used by pedestrians.
