{"id":28166,"date":"2017-04-06T13:22:05","date_gmt":"2017-04-06T18:22:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/?p=28166"},"modified":"2017-04-06T13:22:05","modified_gmt":"2017-04-06T18:22:05","slug":"house-leader-says-agency-didnt-speak-up-on-state-budget-while-publicly-eyeing-park-closures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2017\/04\/06\/house-leader-says-agency-didnt-speak-up-on-state-budget-while-publicly-eyeing-park-closures\/","title":{"rendered":"House Leader Says Agency Didn\u2019t Speak Up on State Budget While Publicly Eyeing Park Closures"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_28168\"  class=\"wp-caption module image left\" style=\"max-width: 620px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-28168\" alt=\"Clinton, Oklahoma, resident Cindy Box and her Horse, Rosie, at Foss State Park. \" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2017\/04\/PHOTO-4-6-Pic1.jpg\" width=\"620\" height=\"413\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2017\/04\/PHOTO-4-6-Pic1.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2017\/04\/PHOTO-4-6-Pic1-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2017\/04\/PHOTO-4-6-Pic1-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2017\/04\/PHOTO-4-6-Pic1-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Logan Layden \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Clinton, Oklahoma, resident Cindy Box and her Horse, Rosie, at Foss State Park.<\/p>\n<\/div><p>In March, the legislature asked state agencies how they would deal with worst-case budget reductions of nearly 15 percent. A cut that deep at the Department of Tourism could <a href=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2017\/03\/13\/ok-state-parks-may-shut-down-due-to-budget-deficit\/\">cost Oklahoma half of its state parks.<\/a><\/p><p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/316429958&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=false\" height=\"150\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p><p><!--more--><\/p><p>Since 2009, the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department has lost about 40 percent of its legislatively appropriated funding, agency officials say. The agency\u2019s response, in part, has been to shed some of its state parks, angering park-goers and and rattling local economies that depend on dollars from visitors spent on goods and services at area businesses.<\/p><p>Some of the offloaded parks, <a href=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2016\/02\/25\/another-oklahoma-state-park-cast-off-as-department-of-tourism-takes-more-cuts\/\">like Dripping Springs State Park near Okmulgee<\/a>, have been transferred to local government control. <a href=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2014\/08\/07\/state-parks-director-says-state-parks-not-on-the-list-of-core-services\/\">Walnut Creek State Park on Keystone Lake simply closed.<\/a><\/p><p>The Tourism Department likely isn\u2019t bluffing when it says a cut of 14.5 percent this legislative session could force it to lose 16 more parks statewide.<\/p><p>\u201cUnfortunately, it\u2019s all options on the table at this point, \u201d Tourism Department spokesperson Leslie Blair says. \u201cWe hope that\u2019s something we can avoid, but we will just have to see what the end appropriation is.\u201d<\/p><p>Blair says her agency isn\u2019t eager to close parks.<\/p><p>\u201cParks are very important to the State of Oklahoma,\u201d she says.<\/p><p>But while addressing reporters two weeks ago, state House Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka, said Tourism had not relayed to his office any concerns about budget cuts. McCall conveyed frustration that he first learned about potential park closures from news reports.<\/p><p>\u201cI\u2019m reading about those statements and those comments in the media. I will say the agencies that have made those comments have not approached this office about their concerns,\u201d McCall said.<\/p><p>McCall said agencies that resort to reductions in services, like closing parks, either aren\u2019t looking hard enough to find internal cost savings, or need to speak up.<\/p><p>\u201cWe\u2019re not here to say that we don\u2019t believe their story,\u201d McCall said. \u201cBut we are here to say we want you to come show us what you\u2019re dealing with on a daily basis and what adjustments you have made.\u201d<\/p><p>Blair says the Tourism agency is continuing to meet with legislators and relevant appropriations subcommittees to talk about the importance of parks.<\/p><p>\u201cWe\u2019re halfway through the session and we haven\u2019t seen any proposals placed on the table yet,\u201d she says. \u201cWe\u2019re waiting to see what legislators come up with.\u201d<\/p><p>Blair says the Tourism agency is out of waste to cut.<\/p><p>\u201cWe\u2019ve eliminated inefficiencies. We\u2019ve eliminated unnecessary spending,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_28169\"  class=\"wp-caption module image left\" style=\"max-width: 620px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-28169\" alt=\"Foss State Park, near Clinton, Oklahoma. \" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2017\/04\/PHOTO-4-6-Pic2.jpg\" width=\"620\" height=\"413\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2017\/04\/PHOTO-4-6-Pic2.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2017\/04\/PHOTO-4-6-Pic2-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2017\/04\/PHOTO-4-6-Pic2-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2017\/04\/PHOTO-4-6-Pic2-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Logan Layden \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Foss State Park, near Clinton, Oklahoma.<\/p>\n<\/div><p>Among the only financial expenses left, she says, are parks, like Foss State Park near Clinton, one of the parks that could be offloaded. The water at Foss Lake looks deep blue, and the ever-present wind creates white-tipped waves that tap against the red dirt of western Oklahoma.<\/p><p>At the well-maintained equestrian trail, Cindy Box is brushing her horse, Rosie.<\/p><p>\u201cI come out almost every weekend. We use the horse trails here. And I\u2019ve written to my representatives and everything. I\u2019m really upset about them trying to close this. We don\u2019t have anything else out here. This is western Oklahoma. There\u2019s nothing else to do,\u201d Box says.<\/p><p>Box isn\u2019t counting on her hometown of Clinton to step in to keep Foss Park open if the state decides to cut it loose.<\/p><p>\u201cWe\u2019ve talked about that, but I don\u2019t know how Clinton could do it,\u201d Box says. \u201cThey\u2019re broke, too. Clinton\u2019s in financial trouble. So I don\u2019t see how these smaller towns could possibly do it.\u201d<\/p><p>There are few state parks in western Oklahoma to begin with, and several of them \u2014 including Foss, Red Rock Canyon and Alabaster Caverns \u2014 are among those endangered. In the eastern half of the state, the list includes Greenleaf and Grand Lake, among others in the east as well.<\/p><p>None of the closures are a certainty; the Tourism agency might not lose as much as 14.5 percent of its budget and the 2017 legislative session runs through May.<\/p><p>But if the worst happens and all of the parks on the list have to go, Oklahoma, which once had more than 40 state parks, could be left with fewer than 20.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In March, the legislature asked state agencies how they would deal with worst-case budget reductions of nearly 15 percent. A cut that deep at the Department of Tourism could cost Oklahoma half of its state parks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[491],"tags":[42,48,111],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28166"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28166"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28166\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28174,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28166\/revisions\/28174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}