December 26th, 2008 Sandra Friend
A family driving through Florida on vacation sees a state park sign and makes a turn off US 441. After a half-hour’s drive, they reach the main gate of Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park. The gate to the 58,000 acre preserve is locked, with a sign: “Closed for 2009.”
Unlikely? Not at all. This fall, Governor Charlie Crist asked all state agencies to trim 10% or more from their 2009 budgets. To meet that request, Florida State Parks recommends closure of 19 state parks and the “return” of 3 state parks to their original owners to allow these budget cuts while avoiding layoffs of personnel.
The list of parks at risk of closure in 2009 includes several archaeological sites, significant Civil War historical sites, important botanical sites, and one of the largest preserves in Florida. All were chosen due to their low attendance. Some are museums that already have limited hours. Many have no entrance fees at all. Those that are not museums are primarily parks for passive recreation, where you can take a hike, ride your horse, or add bird sightings to your life list. The state of Florida was just named the “Top Trails State in the Nation” by American Trails, and many of these sites offer unique trails to explore.
Why keep these parks open? First, there’s the promise made to visitors to Florida through brochures, maps, and guidebooks that our award-winning Florida State Parks system is open for business. Visitors to Florida are increasingly seeking nature-based tourism, to the tune of 20.7 million visitors to Florida State Parks in 2007, which brought an estimated billion dollars to Florida’s economy. But closing specific parks “because they don’t make money” is a dangerous precedent to set. Public lands are about stewardship for the common good. The fact that we profit from ours overall shouldn’t set one park against another in competition for income.
Second, there’s the cheap date. The economy’s sour. You need a place to take the family. Where better to go than your local state park? Although tourism is down in most sectors, visits to parks and campgrounds are up, according to reports given at the December 2008 VISIT FLORIDA board meeting. Many of the parks at risk are in rural parts of Florida, where they help stimulate the local economy.
Finally, there’s the egg on our face. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich attempted to do the same this year and backed off after hearing from an angry public.
With our legislature convening January 5, time is of the essence. Contact Governor Crist, DEP Secretary Michael Sole, Florida State Parks Director Michael Bullock, and your state legislators to express your displeasure with their plans, which would only save 0.003 percent of the $66 billion dollar state budget. Better to raise entrance fees or cut hours statewide to cover the need for expense reduction than close parks entirely.
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December 24th, 2008 Sandra Friend
Enjoy the balmy weather and take a Florida hike! Merry Christmas to all.
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December 24th, 2008 Sandra Friend
Florida panther (US Fish & Wildlife Service)
Just saw this article via ABC Action News / Tampa regards Florida panther encounters being on the rise throughout the state. They mention one such encounter at the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge, which has two trails that get you out into panther habitat. A researcher working in an area closed to the public (although it says “while hiking on a trail”) was followed by a panther there. When you’re hiking in Big Cypress and its surrounding natural lands, keep alert!
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December 24th, 2008 Sandra Friend
I’ve completed posting details about the full list of 22 Florida State Parks at risk and have loaded them all, with links, into a Google map on the front page of Florida Hikes! Stop by and search for a park at risk near you.
Visit one of the parks at risk during the holidays and post photos and your impressions on the State Parks at Risk blog, and write your state legislators!
Thanks for your concern and have a Merry Christmas.
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December 24th, 2008 Sandra Friend
I’m pulling together information from my various guidebooks to introduce you to each of the 19 state parks at risk of closure in 2009 and the 3 state parks that may drop out of the system entirely, if the legislature goes with the proposal tendered for budget cutting by Florida State Parks.
So far, here’s what I have posted. Each has a Google map so you can find the park.
Allen Broussard Catfish Creek Preserve
Deer Lake State Park
John Gorrie Museum State Park
Lake June-in-Winter Scrub State Park (the featured hiked this week for my Hike-A-Week subscribers)
Pumpkin Hill Creek Preserve State Park
Tarkiln Bayou State Park
Terra Ceia Preserve State Park
Yellow River Marsh Preserve State Park
I hope to have all of the parks posted by Christmas day. I have them all written up. Stay tuned!
Posted in Central, North, Panhandle, South, State Park issues | No Comments » Post to del.icio.us
December 23rd, 2008 Sandra Friend
Make your voice heard now! I just learned our legislature is meeting in special session starting Jan 5, and put together a new blog specifically to rally folks to provide specific details on why our state parks on the “cut list” should remain open. If you check out my talking points, note the major reasons why I feel we should not be closing parks:
If you haven’t written the governor or DEP Secretary Michael Sole and your legislators, please do so ASAP. If you live near / enjoy one of the threatened state parks and can make a case for it, provide rich details, photos, video, whatever you’ve got, email me ASAP and I’ll set you up as a blogger on the State Park Issues blog so you can share it all. We need to rally NOW!
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December 22nd, 2008 Sandra Friend
Over at The Florida Hiker, there’s a great blog post right now on learning to wield a chainsaw for the sake of trail maintenance. The Florida Trail Association offers these free workshops to their members several times a year, and if you want to go out and work with a trail crew on the FT, you need to be certified in chainsaw use. Check out what goes on in the workshop …
Meanwhile, I’ve added this site to the blogroll as another fine example of blogging on Florida hiking!
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December 22nd, 2008 Sandra Friend
I added this blog feed (to be accompanied by my own personal asides on hiking) to Twitter yesterday. Keep up and comment at http://twitter.com/floridahikes. You can follow my own rambles on a variety of topics, including hiking, at http://twitter.com/sandrafriend. Now get out there and enjoy this cool weather, perfect for Florida hiking!
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