Flush with federal cash, states invest in their crowded parks
Alex Brown
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For years, Michigan officials have fretted about the ever-growing list of overdue maintenance needs at their 103 state parks: roads and trails, water and sewer systems, restrooms and electrical infrastructure. All are in dire need of replacement or repair with a price tag that exceeds a quarter-billion dollars.
“A lot of these parks are coasting on the fumes of the investments we made in the ‘60s and ‘70s,” said Dan Eichinger, director of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. “We’ve had this $264 million millstone around our neck.”
Flush With Federal Cash, States Invest in Their Crowded Parks
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Flush With Federal Cash States Invest in Their Crowded Parks | The Pew Charitable Trusts
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Standing in the shadow of Mount Pisgah on a chilly, yet clear and sunny Earth Day at Pisgah View Ranch in Candler - slated to be Buncombe County s first state park - Gov. Roy Cooper announced his commitment to expanding outdoor recreation in Western North Carolina with an unprecedented boost to funding state parks. The outdoor recreation economy in North Carolina is booming, particularly here out West, so the more opportunities that we give to people to hike, to fish, to camp, to ride and to just be closer to nature is just critically important, Cooper said April 22.
Included in the governor s proposed budget is $210 million to the state Parks and Recreation Trust Fund, which funds state parks capital projects, repairs and renovations of facilities and land acquisition - double the current funding level - and to the Land and Water Fund, which goes toward purchasing land that protects water quality.