55 Parks May Close!

[JCP]

PARKS MAY CLOSE
Have you heard that there are 55 state parks in NYS that may close? Here's some recent news from Gov. Paterson. The list link is below.

The Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation (OPRHP) 2/19/10 put forward a list of closures and service reductions in order to achieve its proposed 2010-11 agency savings target and help address the State's historic fiscal difficulties. As part of a comprehensive plan to close an $8.2 billion deficit, the 2010-11 Executive Budget included necessary cost reductions to each executive State agency, as well as cuts to education, health care, social services, and every other area of State spending.

OPRHP's plan includes the closure of 41 parks and 14 historic sites, and service reductions at 23 parks and 1 historic site.
The plan also assumes $4 million in park and historic site fee increases that will be identified at a later date, and the use of $5 million in funds from the Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) to finance OPRHP operations. These two actions were part of the 21-day amendments to the Executive Budget and are intended to reduce the number of parks and historic sites subject to closures and service reductions.
See the list here. You'll be surprised and may recognize some of the parks.