Dworshak & Other Parks to Stay Open
At a state parks board meeting, the board committed to keeping state parks open. What remains unresolved is how to pay to keep them open.
Today I attended an Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation board meeting. There, Clearwater County Commissioner Don Ebert and several state legislators spoke up for keeping state parks facilities at Dworshak open.
A few months ago, the board attempted to play "hardball," as one member put it, by threatening closure of state park facilities at the North-Central Idaho reservoir. The board had hoped that the Army Corps of Engineers, which owns the land around Dworshak, would put up the money to assume management of the campgrounds and boat launches now operated and managed by the state.
The tour de force of elected officials present at the meeting was more than enough to convince the board to change its stance on closing Dworshak after the Army Corps called its bluff.
Everyone acknowledged challenges the Idaho Legislature faces with the state budget, but all of the elected officials present spoke adamantly about keeping state parks open. What was not clear is where the money to do so will come from. A few suggested increased user fees. Others disagreed.
I attended to show support to keep Dworshak and other state parks facilities open to the public. Parks like Dworshak are an important part of the economic vitality of rural Idaho. They are also part of Idaho's great quality of life.
