State budget agreement finalized, Cuts to parks significant

When Gov. Mark Dayton signed 12 bills into law yesterday, it marked the end of a divisive partisan budget showdown and the conclusion to a 20-day state government shutdown. More importantly, the budget compromise between Gov. Dayton and the Republican-controlled Legislature means that Minnesota state parks will begin reopening Friday, July 22 and that Minnesotans will once again have full access to our state's 75 outdoor treasures.

But while the budget agreement will get our parks open in the short term, the resulting budget cuts will almost certainly mean the "mothballing" of some state parks in the near future as State Park officials deal with a significant reduction in their General Fund operating support. At the very least we will see a reduction in visitor services in our parks. Overall, state parks took a 17 percent General Fund cut ($6.3 million for Fiscal Years 2012-2013) - an amount nearly equal to the General Fund cuts parks have sustained over the past 10 years combined.  And while lawmakers tried to supplement the cuts with one-time funds from other sources like LCCMR, they did nothing to make up for the nearly $3 million in lost revenue that would have been generated by state parks visitors during the three week government shutdown.

"This budget creates a serious temptation for state park leadership to use Parks and Trails Legacy Funds to backfill for the significant cuts made in General Fund support in order to keep parks open as called for in the budget language," said Brett Feldman, executive director for the Parks & Trails Council of Minnesota. "This kind of backfilling, if it occurs, would be a serious breach of the public trust as Minnesotans passed the Legacy Amendment with the clear understanding that the funds generated from it would supplement traditional parks funding and not be used as a substitute for it."

In addition to agreeing on a state budget, lawmakers also passed a $500 million bonding bill, appropriated $46.2 million in Parks and Trails Legacy Funds and appropriated $25.3 million in Environmental and Natural Resources Trust Fund. The bonding bill contained funding for Minnesota's parks and trails. Those investments include:

• $17 million for state park and trail asset preservation including to repair an elevator shaft at Soudan Underground Mine State Park and to rehabilitate St. Croix State Park following significant storm damage;
• $8 million for Lake Vermilion State Park development;
• $5.8 million for state trail acquisition and development;
• $5 million for Metropolitan regional parks and trails capital improvements;