Parks? Who needs them? Or so it would seem some of the State of New York’s legislators apparently believe. Faced with a huge $8.2B deficit, the State recently announced plans to either close or vastly curtail services in 100 of its 213 State Parks. Among those on the chopping block are Hunts Pond and Bowman Lake. While the former is primarily a wilderness, low-impact park, Bowman is a recreational campsite facility used by hundreds each year.
To say the announcement was unpopular would be a gross understatement. If you’ve read the Evening Sun’s “30 Seconds” or “Letters to the Editor,” you’re aware of how the public, both locally and statewide, feel about it. The question is, does anyone in Albany’s political or bureaucratic aristocracy care anymore about what the state’s residents want them to do? And also, will these closure actually reduce the deficit or make it worse? A report by the NYS Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation Commissioner Carol Ash quoted the needed budget as being $40M, $19 million for state parks capital projects and $21 million for municipal park grants to fund local park and trail projects.
According to the NYS Department of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, the parks system attracts approximately 55 million visits each year; working families traveling to wild lands conserved through taxpayer dollar purchases, assuring New Yorkers and non-residents alike access to wild treasures for all to enjoy, and also learn about the natural world we share. Through this invaluable opportunity, NYS realizes a mammoth economic and social impact.
For example, Niagara Falls State Park’s annual attendance of 7.8 million visitors is greater than that of Grand Canyon and Yosemite National Parks combined. And more than six million people visit Jones Beach each year– twice the number that visit Yellowstone. According to US Fish and Wildlife Service’s NYS Survey on Hunting, Fishing and Outdoors-related Recreation, NY residents who enjoy outdoors recreational activities spend anywhere from $40 to $60 per person, per day, depending upon the activity enjoyed. Non-residents, which represent the tourist dollars, often spend even more per day seeking enjoyment of the natural resource treasures contained in our parks.
Simple mathematics prove the truth of exactly how powerful the NYS Parks System is economically. Using a very conservative average expenditure per person of $50 per visit (an amount that today could be spent solely on gasoline to travel to and from a taxpayer-owned park), the economic engine of our parks system equates to an estimated $2.75B to the state’s economy every year (although the figure quoted by Albany is slightly less), compared to the projected $40M quoted to operate the system. From this activity, hundreds of businesses and thousands of jobs are sustained, with working families able to earn their living and raise their families as a direct result of our incredible and historic parks system. It’s estimated that for every dollar the State invests in its parks, the economic return is fivefold.
