State Park Budget  Cuts

Due to Washington State’s fiscal crisis, there has been a substantial cut in State Park funds. In an attempt to raise income, a decision was made in early 2011 to implement the “Discovery Pass” to access Washington State Parks. Though well-intentioned, the sudden new fee was met with confusion by the public -- and in some instances, by park staff as well. Faced with lower-than-expected sales and income from the new pass, further cuts had to be made in park staffing. Officially, there will be a 20% cut in both field staff and office staff.
    Unfortunately, many of the field staff (i.e. park rangers) in the 80% remaining will be required to accept seasonal employment to stay on payroll. Many will likely not accept these positions if they need year-round employment. So the actual cuts in field staff will probably be quite a bit higher than the office staff. At this date, ranger Clayne Perrin’s position will be terminated at the end of January. Mechanic Warren Arcano’s position is also to be eliminated.
    This is a sad time for those individuals who have helped our park so much over the last decade. Furthermore, there has been uncertainty regarding which park rangers would be retained, and in what capacity. This information is current as of January 9, 2012, but has been changing weekly.
    Our Sno-Park funds are totally separate from park funds. They pay for parking lot snow removal, and for capital and operational grooming expenses. Unfortunately, there is now pressure to not use general (Discovery Pass) funds to help pay for staff to maintain the grooming machine. We anticipate that the Sno-Park system funds will continue for the foreseeable future. The state may further depend on volunteers to compensate for this decrease in funding.
  - George is Past President of the Spokane Nordic Board