{"id":19292,"date":"2014-04-03T06:45:14","date_gmt":"2014-04-03T11:45:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/?p=19292"},"modified":"2014-04-03T10:25:13","modified_gmt":"2014-04-03T15:25:13","slug":"what-ever-happened-to-the-seven-state-parks-oklahoma-couldnt-afford-to-keep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2014\/04\/03\/what-ever-happened-to-the-seven-state-parks-oklahoma-couldnt-afford-to-keep\/","title":{"rendered":"Some Parks Oklahoma Offloaded to Save Money Are Thriving Under Local Control"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Mike<\/p>\n

Logan Layden \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n

Mike Hancock has been the manager at Brushy Lake Park since 1980.<\/p>\n<\/div>

In April 2011, Oklahoma was dealing with a half-billion dollar<\/a> budget shortfall, and the state tourism department had just decided to offload seven of its parks to save money.<\/p>

Three years later, StateImpact finds that all seven parks are still open, and at least two \u2014 Brushy Lake Park<\/a> and Beaver Dunes Park<\/a> \u2014 are thriving. <\/p>

During the budget crisis, Tourism and Recreation Department Director Deby Snodgrass said the parks were chosen \u2014 in part \u2014 because they had the best chance of staying open with the help of cities, tribal governments, and private landowners. She said the move would save the agency abound $700,000.<\/p>

Mike Hancock has been the manager at Brushy Lake, near Sallisaw, since 1980. Until 2011, it was a state job. Now he works for the City of Sallisaw.<\/p>

\u201cWe got some advanced warning of it from the state, where they said, \u2018OK, we\u2019re going to close you guys down,\u2019\u201d Hancock says. \u201cAnd they gave us some options that we could use at that time, none of which suited anybody very good.\u201d<\/p>

When StateImpact visited Sallisaw in 2011<\/a>, City Manager Bill Baker wasn\u2019t happy. He\u2019d just been told the park was his, and he had to figure out how to pay for it.<\/p>

\u201cWe, at least myself personally, heard about this in the newspaper,\u201d Baker said in 2011. \u201cSo we kind of felt like the state was pulling out of this and just leaving us holding the bag.\u201d<\/p>

Today, Baker\u2019s attitude has changed. And so has the park. Debbie Keith, who keeps track of park data for the city, says it\u2019s actually a little nicer.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Logan Layden \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n

The word 'state' has been removed from the park's entrance sign.<\/p>\n<\/div>

\u201cThe RV spaces and the camping spaces stay full, you know, a lot of times. And so we have seen an increase in the use of the park because of it being better maintained,\u201d Keith says.<\/p>

Go across the state \u2014 to Beaver, in the Oklahoma panhandle \u2014\u00a0 and the attitude is the same. Town Administrator J.C. Moser says the little slice of desert known as Beaver Dunes Park, is in better shape now than it ever was when the state ran it. But it hasn\u2019t been cheap.<\/p>

\u201cIt is costing a considerable amount of money to get things fixed up that the state had let go downhill,\u201d Moser says.<\/p>

He says Beaver residents voted for a sales tax increase to revitalize the park, everything from fixing fences and mowing the grass to digging roots out of septic pipes. It\u2019s a lot of work \u2014 a lot of work State Parks Director Kris Marek says her agency couldn\u2019t<\/i> do when it had control, especially when the budget crisis hit.<\/p>

We did furlough days and voluntary buyouts, a lot of different things, including consolidating management,\u201d Marek says. \u201cThere\u2019s a point where that\u2019s not sustainable, and we had reached that point. That\u2019s when we started looking at what properties could we find another home for.\u201d<\/p>

Hancock lost his state benefits, and a handful of other park employees weren\u2019t happy about being shuffled to other sites, so not everyone benefited from the transition.<\/p>

But back in eastern Oklahoma, Mike Hancock, who once thought his park might close without state support, is now happy the city is in charge.<\/p>

\u201cI haven\u2019t talked to anybody who isn\u2019t glad they kept it open. Everybody\u2019s just relieved. Good thing for the state and good thing for the city probably,\u201d Hancock says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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