Wednesday, Soundpolitic had a diary about the proposed closure of some state parks. Today, NYCO posted the list of closures. As bad as this seems, the situation is actually worse. What these diaries cover is just one state agency, and there are other park agencies to consider. Principally, the Department of Environmental Conservation. (warning: PDF)
The proposed Executive budget contemplates that DEC will lose an additional 54 staff through attrition by the end of State fiscal year 2010-11, which will bring us to a total fill level of 3,314. When considering how that fill level compares to prior years, it is important to bear in mind that in 2007, 254 long-term virtually full-time seasonal items were reclassified as permanent employees, creating an anomalous spike in the agency's fill level. If those conversions are backed out, by the end of the next fiscal year DEC will be at its lowest fill level since the early 1980s.
OPRHP manages the state parks and historical sites. DEC manages the Forest Preserve, State forests, and Wildlife Management Units. It's not until you get into the budget(warning: PDF) that you see where many of those cuts are (page 190, if you want a shortcut): 44 of them are in the Division of Operations.
The Mission of the Division of Operations is:
" to provide technical services, facilities management, and maintenance of physical assets to insure effective and efficient operation of the Department and safe public use of DEC lands and facilities." DEC facilities include agency buildings, such as its headquarters, regional and field offices, as well as recreational facilities like campgrounds. DEC lands include recreational assets like hunting and fishing areas, as well as DEC's extensive network of hiking, riding and cross country trails. Recreational facilities and trails are created and maintained by DEC's Division of Operations for public use.
Operations is also taking one of the biggest budget hits. Approximately 18% of its budget. What does this mean for recreation? |
| It depends on what you're doing. While the campgrounds in the Adirondacks and Catskills are relatively "safe" - they're technically "self-funded," it means that capital projects and other maintenance needs for them will be cut. The maintenance of hiking trails, wilderness camping areas, and fishing access points will be greatly reduced, if not done away with in various areas. This is on top of the closure, last year and this year, of two state campgrounds - one of which is permanently closed. In effect, on top of the state park closures that are being discussed elsewhere, there's another set of de facto closures going on. They're not getting attention, because the figures are buried in various agency budgets, and most people don't understand how the state agencies are structured and who has specific responsibilities.
The current budget crisis is drawing attention to the state parks situation, as well as state lands. The proposal to cut land acquisition using the Environmental Protection Fund was not popular. The purchase of land, to "put it under protection" is considered a good thing, but it really points to a problem that has been brewing for years. The current situation is simply a breaking point in it.
The problem is that it's been a policy to acquire land, to create parks, without considering or budgeting the costs that go along with them. Something that many people don't realize is that when the state acquires land, the purchase price is not the end of the financial requirement. The state continues to pay property taxes on that land. In order to protect it, to maintain facilities, people are needed, equipment and supplies are needed, and there are costs involved in that. Ongoing, continuous funding is needed. Yet, somehow, none of that seems to be have been a consideration. Last year, Fred LeBrun pointed it out:
During the 12 years of the Pataki administration, great gains were made in acquiring new parks, but funding for capital improvements and maintenance costs did not keep up with acquisitions. Now the piper is at the door and he's tapping his foot.
The same thing holds true for DEC - when you look at their staffing levels, in 1989, they had over 4000 full-time personnel. That doesn't include seasonal workers, and full-time people who were funded under seasonal budgets. Over the next 15 years, that figure dropped by almost 800 people. Yet, at the same time, the state acquired more property, created more areas, and added responsibilities.
The truth is, the state's been very good at creating parks. It's been good at buying property to put it under protection. It's been lousy at keeping them up. In last year's LeBrun article, he mentions that there were anywhere between 650-750 million dollars in maintenance backlogs for OPRHP. I can't find a figure for DEC, but I wouldn't be surprised if someone told me 100 million or more. This didn't occur overnight. It's something that's been growing for years. We add to the system, but don't add the resources needed to manage it, so the existing budgets must be stretched to cover the new responsibilities. The result is that it will eventually break.
It's now looking like it's at the breaking point. As bad as the situation appears, it's actually worse. The results of years of staffing and budget cuts and freezes, combined with expansion of the system, are finally becoming apparent to everyone. If there's a silver lining at all, it's that we should be starting a serious discussion about our parks systems. NYCO made a comment in Soundpolitic's diary:
There should be a long-term program of constant reassessment of parks and their health. To prepare New Yorkers for the message, "Look, we're overextended, we need to embark on a program of cutting back - this is what we need to do this year in order to regroup," - EVERY year this should be up for discussion.
Yes, and we also need to start considering how we're going to staff and maintain any park before we create it, or add to it. Because to date, what we've shown is that we think the act of creating them is enough. It isn't. |
