Rep. Wendy Jaquet, D-Ketchum, asked how Parks Director Nancy Merrill expects to make Idaho's parks system self-sustaining, when "there are no states that have really been able to create an environment of sustainability." Merrill said it's all in her new business plan for the state parks. "There are some real outside-the-box ideas in general, as well as individual parks ideas," she said. "We have a plan of sustainability that would include our seasonal people as well as our volunteers - we have a really strong volunteer group and it is growing. So that sustainability, we will have to reach out to our communities as we look for alternative management, whether it is using volunteers, some of our seasonals, and other ways of raising more revenue." One option she's exploring, she said, is a "one-stop shop" for licensing, from fishing and hunting licenses to boat and trailer registration. "We think there are some opportunities," she said.

---

---