Bill’s Failure To Pass May Doom Homolovi And Lyman Lake Parks

By Tammy Gray-Searles
   A bill that could have ensured the future of several state parks failed in the Arizona House of Representatives May 12.
   Although the bill received a simple majority of yes votes with lawmakers voting 36-22 in favor its passage, because it would have overturned a decision by state voters, it needed a two-thirds majority to pass. The money needed to keep the parks open would have come from state land trust funds designed to control urban sprawl. When voters created the state land trust, it was with the provision that the money generated was to be used only for land trust.
   District 5 State Representatives Jack Brown (D-St. Johns) and Bill Konopnicki (R-Safford) voted in favor of passing the bill.
   Failure of the bill could mean that Homolovi and Lyman Lake state parks will close this summer. The Arizona State Parks Board previously indicated that unless another source of funding to keep the parks open is found, they expect to have to close at least eight parks throughout the state. Other parks on the hit list include Riordan Mansion in Flagstaff, Fort Verde in Camp Verde, McFarland Historic Park in Florence, Oracle State Park in Oracle, Tubac Presidio and Yuma Quartermaster Depot.
   State parks already took a serious budget hit this fiscal year when approximately $34.6 million was swept out of the parks budget to help reduce the state’s budget deficit. Bigger budget reductions for the state parks department are expected when lawmakers finally reveal and approve the state’s 2009-10 budget. If the bill had passed, it would have guaranteed at least $20 million to help keep the parks open.
   Parks officials have been trying to find creative ways to keep parks open with the current budget crunch, such as closing certain parks two days per week, and partnering with local cities and counties to help with park operations, but park board members have made it clear that without the passage of the bill, or some other unexpected windfall, some parks will have to be closed in the upcoming fiscal year.
   With the State of Arizona facing a $3 billion budget deficit, closing state parks may seem like an easy way to save funds, but the economic impact of closed state parks, especially in rural areas, is significant. According to a recent Northern Arizona University study, Homolovi State Park has a $3.5 million annual impact on the surrounding area and Lyman Lake State Park has a $2.4 million impact. A total of 44 full-time jobs would be affected if Homolovi is closed, and 35 full-time jobs if Lyman Lake is closed.
   Closure of the parks would also mean the loss of valuable local educational and recreational resources. In the case of Lyman Lake, there would be no legal access to the lake.
   According to Arizona State Parks spokesman Ellen Bilbrey, parks on the possible closure list were chosen based on cost per visitor to the state.
    “It was based on cost per use, or cost per visitor, how much it cost to actually service that visitor,” she explained.
    Parks with the highest cost of operation per visitor were placed at the top of the list for closure. In many cases, parks with the highest cost per visitor are also the parks with the lowest visitation rates. In fiscal year 2006-07, Homolovi hosted 15,953 visitors and Lyman Lake, 36,298. In comparison, Slide Rock State Park near Sedona had 249,409 visitors, and was one of the top revenue producing parks in the state. Fool Hollow Lake hosted 95,495 visitors in that same time period.
   Governor Jan Brewer has revived the State Parks Task Force to try to find alternate solutions to closing the parks, but hope that they will remain open continues to fade.