Parks around the US face economic stress this Memorial Day

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By Gloria Goodale, Staff writer / May 28, 2011

Los Angeles

As Memorial Day vacationers head out to national and state parks across the country this weekend, looking for respite from urban woes, many will see signs of parks feeling economic stress.


In California, Governor Jerry Brown’s $22 million budget cut will close 70 of the state’s 278 state parks including beaches. In Colorado, the legislature has completely eliminated general tax funding for the state parks. And in Georgia, the state park’s allocation shrank by 40 percent.

The first changes people are going to see are reduced park hours, fewer rangers available for guidance and maintenance, not to mention closed facilities such as toilets and museum exhibits, says Philip McKnelly, executive director of the National Association of State Park Directors.


“You’re probably going to see more camp areas using pack-it-in, pack-it-out,” he says, meaning there will be no garbage collection inside the parks.

more
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2011/0528/Parks-around-the-US-face-economic-stress-this-Memorial-Day

All part of the plan: cut the things we most enjoy about Government, and make sure people feel like their tax dollars are 'being wasted'

But true waste, like oil subsidies and 200 million dollar fighter planes, never gets cut.