House does reverse on state park lots
OLYMPIA – Declaring the $5 parking fee in state parks a “failed experiment,” the state House of Representatives on Monday voted overwhelmingly to do away with the charges later this year.
“Nine million people have been closed out of our parks,” said Rep. Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam. “Enough is enough.”
Critics of the fees – enacted in 2003 to help reduce a growing maintenance backlog in parks – point to a nearly 16 percent drop in park visits since they were enacted. Visits fell by more than 7 million, to just over 38 million annually.
“We all want to find a sustainable revenue source for our parks,” said Kessler. “But for now, this experiment failed.” House Bill 2416 passed, 94 to 2. The House also passed a bill steering $50 million over the next four years into park maintenance and operations.
Getting rid of the fees has been one of the more widely supported proposals in Olympia this year. When Republican lawmakers traveled around the state last summer, trying to gauge public sentiment, they also vowed to do away with the fees.
“That was always the biggest applause line,” said Rep. Doug Ericksen, R-Bellingham. “People want to have access to their state parks, something they’re already paying for, without having to pay a day-use fee.”
The bill now goes to the Senate, where Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, says it has good odds of passing.
State parks officials said that the fees were an act of desperation in 2003. Two years earlier, state budget cuts had “de-funded” 12 state parks. The fees were enacted when the state was facing more park closures. There are 120 state parks.
“We felt we had no alternative,” said state parks commission vice chairwoman Joan Thomas. The fees raised $3.3 million a year.
“We felt that we would lose attendance, but that it would come back up,” she said.
Jim King, a lobbyist for a group called Citizens for Parks and Recreation, said that it’s a mistake to assume that the fees are the sole reason that attendance numbers are down. In some cases, he said, forest fires forced parks to close temporarily.
“The bottom line is that the parking fee did keep our parks open and did start tackling the maintenance problem,” King said.
The money allowed the state to hire dozens of park aides, who collect the money, do maintenance and answer questions from visitors.
To help replace the missing money and work on the remaining maintenance backlog, the House on Monday also passed House Bill 2422, which would set up a $50 million fund over the next four years to pay for state parks work. Budget writers, however, would have to agree. The bill also sets up a second, equal fund to help build youth recreation parks, like ball fields.