The state of parks in New York

The hiking community erupted in anxiety bordering on outrage regarding a proposal by New York Gov. David Paterson’s administration to shutter or reduce services at 64 state parks and 15 historic sites. A petition is going around Twitter, which is like trying to stop a hurricane with a paper cut. Petitions never work, believe me. The ballot box is the only petition that does work.

The Syracuse Post-Standard reported that Paterson’s measure would save the state $6.3 million, mere pennies in a $29 billion budget war between Democrats and Republicans in Albany. Despite such a pitiful amount of savings, Paterson said: “In an environment when we have to cut funding to schools, hospitals, nursing homes and social services, no area of state spending — including parks and historic sites — could be exempt from reductions.”

What I’m about to write is drawn from years of covering Pennsylvania’s government, and nothing drives the politics of a state like Pennsylvania and New York like the budget.

I doubt the parks will be closed permanently.

Budgets are a process. The governor makes his pitch to a bicameral legislature, then the Senators and Representatives debate, deal and engage in quid pro quos for weeks or months until the final budget is passed by the end of the fiscal year.

For New York, the start of their new fiscal year is April 1, which makes this announcement by Paterson so close to the deadline something about which to be concerned if you like your state parks. But, do not be shocked if $6.3 million is magically found somewhere in New York’s budget to “save the parks.”

This is about negotiation. When’s the last time you heard of a state either a.) shutting its state parks permanently or b.) laying off massive amounts of public employees. You haven’t. It’s bad politics to do so, even for an embattled governor who is not running for re-election. Plenty of legislators have their elected jobs on the line, too.

State parks help drive local economies, and it raises tax revenue from sales, income and so on. You close parks to save $6.3 million, but how much will that cost to your local economies and state coffers? Yeah, closing state parks is the whole cutting off your nose to spite your face.

These folks in state government, despite reports to the contrary, aren’t stupid. They know parks drive tax revenues. And they know with more people engaged in “staycations” and seeking affordable retreats like state parks, those state parks are money makers.

State parks in New York might take a hit in funding – and if education and other services have to do with less, parks should not be exempt – but I doubt you will see “closed” signs at the gates for very long, if at all.

Tagged as: Albany, Gov. David Paterson, Harriman State Park, New York, Wilderness Politics