McDONOUGH – A bit of wind and rain didn’t deter Senator Charles Schumer from paying a visit to Bowman Lake State Park Wednesday.

“Our parks in Upstate New York are beautiful,” Schumer said Wednesday, during a lake-side press conference in which he lauded the New York State Park system and pledged to do his part to keep the state’s parks and historical sites open despite the state’s fiscal crisis.

According to the New York Democrat, the Land and Water Conservation Fund could be the answer to the state agency’s budget woes. The senator is pushing for the LWCF to be funded fully at $900 million as part of the New Energy Bill. Established in 1965, the LWCF’s purpose is to promote the acquisition and development of outdoor recreation areas, such as state parks.

“The solution we are proposing will not cost taxpayers a nickel,” Schumer said, as LWCF is funded by royalties from offshore oil and gas drilling activities.

According to the senator, the LWCF has only been fully funded twice in its 40-plus year history. During those times, he said, New York’s share was approximately $24 million. The state currently receives less than $1 million, he explained. Schumer said the increased funding would go a long way toward saving the parks and historical sites which narrowly escaped closure this year.

Hunts Pond and Oquaga Creek were two of the 41 state parks and 14 historical sites which received a last -minute reprieve by the Governor David Paterson right before Memorial Day. Bowman Lake State Park was one of 34 facilities on a secondary list of potential closures, whose survival hinged on the transferal of $5 million from the Environmental Protection Fund to help cover the cost of operating New York State’s Office of Parks Recreation and Historical Preservation.

Commerce Chenango President Maureen Carpenter and Chenango County Tourism Coordinator Audrey Robinson joined Schumer at the press conference.