Parks chief: ‘Plan B’ would have to include park closures

State Parks Director Nancy Merrill said her agency has ambitious plans for corporate sponsorships, higher fees and the like to fund state parks in the future. But, she said, “We have to have a Plan B, which includes park closure, park restructuring.” She said, “We’ll devise a ranking system,” and appeal to the public to “tell us which parks need to be closed.” That, she said, would be “most distasteful, the thing that we least want to do.” But shrinking funding and shrinking staff will leave no option if new, sustainable funding sources aren’t identified, she said. “Today is the new norm and we are adjusting, and all we can do is all we can do.”