Board votes to close three state parks; fate of eight depends on Legislature
With BC-CNS-State Parks-North, BC-CNS-State Parks-South and BC-CNS-Parks-List
Photos Available (thumbnails, captions below)
By DANIEL NEWHAUSER
Cronkite News Service
PEORIA (Friday, Feb. 20) _ As the Arizona State Parks Board convened to discuss closing 11 parks, board member Larry Landry wanted to make sure the distressed crowd knew he was on their side.
“The last thing any of us want to do is close any park or cut any program or cut any grant,” Landry said. “The staff has been open to any idea, big or small.”
But, he added, no idea has been big enough to offset the nearly $35 million the Legislature cut from the agency’s budget for fiscal 2009.
Because of that, the board elected Friday to temporarily close Tonto National Bridge State Park near Payson, Jerome State Historic Park in Jerome and Florence’s McFarland State Historic Park. They will remain closed through at least June 30.
Board members said the three parks were chosen because they were in disrepair and the time could be used to slowly renovate them.
Members rejected a motion to add Homolovi Ruins State Park near Winslow and Oracle State Park to the closures because representatives said the Hopi Tribe could help staff Homolovi and volunteers were trying to raise money to keep the Oracle park operating.
It held off on other parks while the Legislature considers a bill that would restore money cut from the Arizona State Parks budget. Depending on what the Legislature does, more parks could close in early March, members said.
Ken Travous, executive director of Arizona State Parks, said he expects more park closures.
“If we put off the inevitable, we’ve staved off the inevitable,” he said after the meeting.
In addition, the board authorized the agency to transfer, furlough or lay off personnel, to cut operating costs and to draw money for operations from the Heritage Fund, which uses lottery proceeds to provide grants for parks, trails, historic preservation and wildlife conservation.
Arizona State Parks must cut $27 million by Feb. 28 and another $5 million by June 30, Travous said.
“We’ve been operating on a house of cards that has had a sledgehammer taken to it,” he said.
The measure passed on a 3-1 vote, with Arlan Colton, the only board member opposed, saying he felt the board would likely end up closing the parks anyway.
“The Legislature has put us in an untenable position,” he said in an interview. “Do you just bite the bullet or do you just let it keep going on and on and on?”
Still, Susan Secakuku, project manager for the Homolovi Park Project, said she was cautiously optimistic about the chances that her park could remain open.
“We feel wonderful that they took a measured decision regarding Homolovi,” she said.
She and Dale Sinquah, chair of the Hopi Tribal Council’s land team, told the board the Hopi would offer any help they could to keep open the park, which tribal members consider part of their ancestral homeland.
“These are trying times, and during trying times we need to think of innovative ways to keep things going,” Sinquah said.
Meanwhile, representatives of governments and groups that received pledges of Heritage Fund grants objected to the decision to take away their money. Those cuts affected about 120 grants in all.
Dick Powell, mayor pro tempore of Casa Grande, held up a large representation of a check to illustrate his disappointment at losing $277,000 pledged for improvements to a rodeo venue.
“The grant was almost God-sent to us,” he said later in a telephone interview. “I understand their situation, but the Heritage Grant is such an important thing to preserve Arizona history.”
But board member Larry Landry said there was no other option.
“We can’t give what we don’t have,” he said.
^___=
PHOTOS: Click thumbnails to see full-resolution images and download; caption information is in the file under File>File Info.
CAPTION WITH BC-CNS-STATE PARKS: Arlan Colton (left) and State Land Commissioner Mark Winkleman (center), members of the Arizona State Parks Board, talk with Ken Travous, executive director of Arizona State Parks, at a hearing on Friday, Feb. 20, 2009, at which the board decided to close three parks immediately but wait on closing others until it’s clear whether legislation that might spare other parks will be approved. (Cronkite News Service Photo/Daniel Newhauser)
CAPTION WITH BC-CNS-STATE PARKS: Rita (left) and Eileen Gannon, the granddaughter and great-granddaughter of Timothy Riordan, are shown outside a Peoria venue where the Arizona State Parks Board decided Friday, Feb. 20, 2009, to close three parks and hold open the possibility of closing others, including Riordan Mansion State Historic Park in Flagstaff, unless the Legislature comes up with a means of continuing to fund the parks. The Gannons said they can’t afford the taxes and upkeep that would be involved if the mansion reverted to the family. (Cronkite News Service Photo/Michelle Price)
CAPTION WITH BC-CNS-STATE PARKS: Mike Davis, manager of Riordan Mansion State Historic Park in Flagstaff, makes his displeasure known about the prospect of the park closing at a hearing of the Arizona State Parks Board on Friday, Feb. 20, 2009, in Peoria. (Cronkite News Service Photo/Daniel Newhauser)
CAPTION WITH BC-CNS-STATE PARKS: Dale Sinquah, a member of the Hopi Tribal Council, speaks Friday, Feb. 20, 2009, during a hearing at which the Arizona State Parks Board considered a proposal to close 11 state parks. Sinquah urged the board to keep open Homolovi State Park near Winslow. That park has four pueblo sites thought to have been occupied by ancestors of today’s Hopi Indians. (Cronkite News Service/Daniel Newhauser)
CAPTION WITH BC-CNS-STATE PARKS: Susan Secakuku, project manager for the Homolovi Park Project, speaks Friday, Feb. 20, 2009, during a hearing at which the Arizona State Parks Board considered a proposal to close 11 state parks. Sinquah urged the board to keep open Homolovi State Park near Winslow. That park has four pueblo sites thought to have been occupied by ancestors of today’s Hopi Indians. (Cronkite News Service/Daniel Newhauser)
CAPTION WITH BC-CNS-STATE PARKS: Dick Powell, mayor pro tempore of Casa Grande, holds up a check representing a Heritage Fund grant commitment the city stands to lose due to state budget cuts. Powell and others spoke at hearing at which the Arizona State Parks Board approved closing three parks and held open the possibility that others would close unless the Legislature comes up with a way to continue funding their operations. (Cronkite News Service Photo/Daniel Newhauser)
CAPTION WITH BC-CNS-STATE PARKS: Carol Cullen (right), executive director, and Susan Walsh, vice chair of the Tubac Chamber of Commerce, address the Arizona State Parks Board about Tubac Presidio State Historic Park on Friday, Feb. 20, 2009. (Cronkite News Service Photo/Michelle Price)
CAPTION WITH BC-CNS-STATE PARKS: Alan Sorkowitz, a Tucson resident who set up the Web site www.seeitbeforeitcloses.com to rally support for state parks threatened with closure, speaks Friday, Feb. 20, 2009, before the Arizona State Parks Board. Sorkowitz said he was most concerned about (Cronkite News Service Photo/Daniel Newhauser)