NEWS

Oregon will focus on current state parks, not new ones

Zach Urness
Statesman Journal
The view from behind North Falls at Silver Falls State Park.

After more than a decade of expansion, the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department is planning to scale back its creation of new state parks and instead focus on improving the current system.

The department has opened nine new parks since 2004 — it will open a 10th by the end of 2015 — and has stretched its footprint into every corner of the state.

But with the main sources of funding either flat or declining heading into the 2015-17 budget period and costs increasing, OPRD will slash its allowance for acquiring new property to cut more than $4 million from the overall budget.

OPRD will also eliminate across-the-board discounts, including "Discovery Season" markdowns for camping in the off-season. Visitor fees will not rise, however.

OPRD is making its budget presentation to the state legislature Monday and Tuesday this week, and will take public testimony Wednesday.

"We won't have the same amount of money for acquisitions, and there's some maintenance projects that we won't do," OPRD director Lisa Van Laanen told the Statesman Journal. "In a way, it's actually a good reset, because there are some parks we haven't developed yet. Instead of spending money on expansion, we're going to look at ways of investing in the parks we already have."

Lisa Van Laanen, Oregon Parks and Recreation Department director, at Silver Falls State Park.

The main sources of revenue for OPRD include the Oregon Lottery ($93.5 million), RV registrations and park fees ($114.2 million) and federal grants ($11.1 million) for a total of $218.8 million. OPRD does not receive any money from the general fund.

Oregon has 258 state parks, historic sites, natural areas and scenic waysides that cover over 108,000 acres. Forty-two million people visit the parks each year.

OPRD is far from the only agency facing budget issues. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is facing a $20 million shortfall for the 2015-17 biennium.

Van Laanen, who became OPRD director a little more than year ago, said one of her goals is finding ways to create more revenue from the parks so they wouldn't have to raise fees across the long-term.

"Rather than having to come over to the Legislature and asking them to allow us to raise fees or solve our problems, we want to come up with new ways to create revenues so that we're financial stable," she said.

"If we have a park that's under-utilized, we want to ask if there's something different we can do that would create revenue. Maybe that is a zip line, or an adrenaline park, large social events, fun runs or more mountain biking.

"Rather than keep doing exactly what what we've done for the last 100 years, we want to figure out what we should look like for the next 100."

Zach Urness has been an outdoors writer, photographer and videographer in Oregon for seven years. He is the author of the book "Hiking Southern Oregon" and can be reached at zurness@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6801. Find him on Facebook at Zach's Oregon Outdoors or @ZachsORoutdoors on Twitter.

Public comment

The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department is holding a hearing on its budget at the State Capitol at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday and Wednesday in Hearing Room 174. A sign-up sheet will be present for those who wish to give public testimony.

State park expansion

Over the last decade, the number of state parks in Oregon has expanded. Here's a breakdown of all the new parks.

2004: Stub Stewart (Washington County)

2005: Sunset Beach (Clatsop County)

2006: Fort Yamhill (Polk County)

2007: Thompson's Mills (Linn County)

2008: Crissey Field (Curry County)

2009: Iwetemlaykin (Wallowa County)

2010: Brian Booth State Park, also known as Beaver Creek (Lincoln County)

2011: Bates (Grant County)

2013: Cottonwood Canyon (Sherman and Gilliam counties)

2015 / 2016: Beltz Property (Tillamook County)

Online links

For links to the full budget proposal – along with a profile on OPRD director Lisa Van Laanen and a story about how Oregon's newest state park was almost a golf course – see StatesmanJournal.com.