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New Hampshire's State Parks were amongst the first in this country to be required to operate as self-funded entities, deriving the bulk of their funding directly from user-fees and receiving absolutely no funding from the state's general revenues. The appended article from today's press, titled "Parks funding system comes under scrutiny," is important and will become relevant to you, no-matter where you live, after you've read this short introduction.
New Hampshire's State Parks serve as predictive tool for previewing the issues, problems and changes coming to federally managed public lands now that federal land managers are being forced to rely heavily upon user-fees and other non-traditional funding mechanisms as replacements for ever-diminishing funding.
Free-market ideologues, such as those at the Property and Environment Research Center, commonly point to New Hampshire's State Parks with pride. They use both the NH and the Texas park systems as models for what can be achieved when tax-revenues are withheld and privatization solutions are imposed. In Congressional Testimony, PERC has even used New Hampshire's system as the very model for the Recreation Fee Demonstration Program .
Former PERC Research Fellow (now Secretary of Interior) Gale Norton has made it a high priority to bring the New Hampshire State Park model to public lands near you. The appended article will give you a better idea of what to expect.
Scott
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Jan 17, 2005
Parks funding system comes under scrutiny
By ANNE SAUNDERS - The Associated Press/ NashuaTelegraph
CONCORD - Don't go looking for a Pepsi in New Hampshire's state parks.
Coca Cola pays to be the exclusive provider of soft drinks - an
arrangement that brings in $15,000 in cash and another $90,000 worth in
joint marketing efforts with the state.
It's one of a number of creative ways the self-funded parks system
raises money besides collecting fees from campers, skiers and other
visitors.
The self-funding arrangement has come under scrutiny in recent months
for a couple of reasons. Poor weather in the last two summers triggered
a crisis when fewer visitors to state parks threw the budget into the
red this year. Several parks closed early to stop the financial bleed.
In addition, a proposal to allow the private ski resort that leases
Mount Sunapee to add more trails on state land led to accusations that
the parks system was more interested in collecting revenue than in
protecting a public resource. Those who oppose allowing all-terrain
vehicles on public lands also see a conflict of interest because the
trails bureau gets money from people who register snowmobiles,
dirt-bikes and ATVs in the state.
"I think (the Department of Resources and Economic Development) is so
focused on the bottom line that it ignores the big picture - doing
what's best for the people of New Hampshire," said Tom Elliott, who
leads a group called the Friends of Mount Sunapee.
He believes the state's decision to lease Mount Sunapee to a private
resort sacrificed that park to raise money for the state-run ski area
at Cannon Mountain. "This became a cash cow for the state of New
Hampshire," he said.
He's worried the parks division is not sufficiently accountable to the Legislature because it gets its money elsewhere.
Sen. Bob Odell, whose district includes Mount Sunapee State Park, has
proposed a study commission to look at the state parks funding system
as a result of some of the concerns. Though he believes the parks
division has been accountable to elected leaders, he sees pressures on
the system.
With the state's growing population, "our parks are going to be under
increasing demand for use," he said. "I think it's important to
periodically review the financial structure. Where will we be in five
years?"
On Wednesday, The Legislature's Joint Fiscal Committee will be
considering an increase in several fees at the state parks. Meanwhile,
the parks department continues to look for new ways to raise money.
Lakes Region Volkswagen provides a free car to Cannon Mountain in
exchange for being an official sponsor of events at the state-run ski
area, marketing director Amy Bassett said. Events get advertised
jointly, benefiting both the state and the car dealership, she said.
"We're actually on the road to find more of that," she said. Among the
ideas under consideration are starting an "adopt-a-park" program that
pairs businesses with individual state parks, she said.
Resources and Economic Development Commissioner Sean O'Kane said he's
gotten a positive response to the "adopt-a-park" concept. Businesses
and corporations would contribute to building and repair projects in
the state's parks in exchange for recognition as "official sponsors."
Until recently, most capital improvements were paid out of tax dollars.
O'Kane says he believes the parks department can do more to support
itself.
"I think there's a lot of opportunity under the current system that hasn't been explored," he said.
He disagrees that self-funding means the parks department is not always operating in the public's best interest.
"Clearly we have to be more creative," he said. "But I don't think I'm putting conservation on a back burner."
O'Kane says the department slowly is closing its budget gap. New
initiatives, including the proposal to raise fees, leave him confident
the parks department can support itself into the future.
Among other things, he says he can save money by improving the
department's responsiveness to daily demands, for example by adjusting
staffing to match needs more accurately during the year.
Park fee increases
The Department of Resources and Economic Development has asked
the Legislature to consider several fee increases for state parks,
including:
- Add a $5 parking fee at popular trailheads during 20 summerweekends.
- Add a $1 day-use fee per child ages 6-12.
- Raise camping fees 20 percent.
- Raise the camping reservation fee from $3 to $5.
- Add a $5 charge for premium campsites during peak season.
- Raise the day-use fee on the seacoast to park and launch boats by 25 percent
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SOME ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND PLUS A "HEADS-UP":
New Hampshire's Wilbur LaPage is generally credited with making New
Hampshire's State Parks self-funded. From 1985-1987, LaPage served as
a commissioner on Ronald Reagan's 'President's Commission on Americans
Outdoors' (PCAO). The concepts of defunding public lands and making
them reliant upon user-fees, volunteerism, partnerships and other
privatization techniques stems DIRECTLY from Reagan and his PCAO. They
are part of the Reagan/David Stockman plan for shrinking government by
"Starving the Beast".
Knowing that, perhaps it won't surprise you to learn that the person
who has taken full credit for both the highly unpopular Fee-demo
program as well as the newly passed Recreation Access Tax (Derrick
Crandall of the American Recreation Coalition) also served as a
commissioner, along with LaPage, on Reagan's PCAO. And perhaps it
won't surprise you to learn that another of Reagan's PCAO
commissioners, Charles Jordan, will present the keynote speech at a
national public lands convention on March 6th in Portland, Oregon. That
convention will focus upon bringing user-fees, volunteerism,
partnerships and other privatization techniques to all of America's
public lands. The Corporate Takeover of Nature is in full swing. To
learn more, click.
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- Privatization 
