Idaho state parks thrive, draw crowds despite budget cuts

Idaho’s state parks are thriving, just five years after Gov. Butch Otter proposed shutting down the parks department and eliminating funding.

State funding for parks in Idaho is still less than half what it was in 2006, and that’s reflected in smaller staffs, a backlog of maintenance projects and reduced services during off-peak months. But all the parks have remained open, and they’re welcoming record numbers of visitors this summer for everything from camping to weddings to paddle-board rentals to disc golf.

“Everybody predicted we’d have to close down parks,” Otter said recently. But he said all he really wanted back in 2010 was to “do more with less – and by golly, the Idaho folks did it.”

Budget cuts have forced states around the nation, including Washington, to consider closing state parks over the past decade, though few actually ended up taking that step. Three states are looking at that now, however, including Wisconsin and Louisiana. A proposal in Alabama would close any park that doesn’t cover 100 percent of its operating costs, according to Lewis Ledford, executive director of the National Association of State Park Directors.

Ledford said he believes that’s a shortsighted measure, as it overlooks the value parks generate for the economies of their surrounding communities.

“If citizens have a chance to vote to support funds for their parks, it’s overwhelmingly being popularly endorsed,” he said. And people also are “voting with their attendance.” State park visits are soaring nationwide, with the latest estimate of annual state park visitors topping 730 million.

Idaho’s 30 state parks include some popular North Idaho gems, topped by Priest Lake, Round Lake, Farragut and Heyburn state parks. There’s also Old Mission State Park, which is operated by the state but owned by the Coeur d’Alene Tribe and includes the Cataldo Mission, the state’s oldest standing building. The Coeur d’Alene Parkway, which is part of the Centennial Trail, and the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes are also state parks.

“Some parks can pay for themselves,” Idaho Parks Director David Langhorst said. “Others can’t because of their nature.”

One of the parks that isn’t self-sustaining is Old Mission State Park, with its remarkable historic buildings and artifacts. Built by Jesuits and the Coeur d’Alene Tribe and completed in 1853, the mission’s ceiling is stained blue with huckleberries. Using only local materials and few tools, it was designed to echo the grand cathedrals of Italy. “I have been in the mission when people walk in that door and they just start crying,” Park Manager Kathleen Durfee said. “It’s just amazing the effect the building has on some people.”

Fees have gone up

Langhorst, the state parks director, said most people agree that preserving buildings like the Cataldo Mission is a public good. The issue is that “it takes more to preserve those than you can extract in fees.”

Fees are charged at nearly all Idaho state parks, and they’ve gone up as state support has fallen. It’s the same story in virtually every state, and national figures show Idaho and Washington fees are in line with or just slightly above national averages.

Ten state park systems, mostly in the East, still charge no fees to enter their state parks by policy, but they’re the exceptions.

This year, Idaho added a $3-per-night campsite fee for out-of-state campers, $5 on camper cabins or yurts and 10 percent on group sites. It’s also continuing to offer a $10 parks passport to Idaho residents and a $40 passport to out-of-staters; both cover the $5 daily vehicle entry fee for unlimited use all year at all state parks. Camping fees and specific attraction fees, like those for the “Sacred Encounters” exhibit at the Old Mission, come on top of that, but for frequent users, the passports can bring big savings.

“It’s a screaming deal,” Langhorst said. The passport program also has brought the state more than $1.2 million in gross revenue this year.

Idaho parks are trying other ways to bring in revenue, like renting sand boards that people ride like snowboards down the sand dunes at Bruneau Dunes State Park in Southern Idaho, and offering camper cabins, a still-rustic but more comfortable way to camp than a tent. A camper cabin opened at Priest Lake State Park this summer.

In addition, state lawmakers this year cleared the way for corporate sponsorships within Idaho parks, which could lead to sponsored picnic shelters, visitor centers or interpretive programs. Langhorst said he hopes to take in a few hundred thousand dollars a year from such sponsorships.

Support stepped up

Tom Crimmins, a state parks board member from Hayden Lake, acknowledged that such fundraising efforts aren’t “a savior.”

But when the state officials asked park managers to step up and operate more like businesses, “They really did,” Crimmins said. “They did some amazing things; they have some great ideas. They’re trying new things. Not all of them work. But they’ve really stepped up and tried to do what they could do.”

Ultimately, Crimmins said, “We have a lot of support from the public for the parks and what they do for the people in Idaho.”

That’s shown up in increased use of volunteers in state parks, from campground hosts to local clubs taking on maintenance or upgrade projects. At Priest Lake State Park, volunteers operate the entrance booth, store, interpretive programs and tasks like paint and trail maintenance.

Shortly before Otter made his 2010 proposal to eliminate the state parks system, cut state funds and transfer remaining assets to the departments of Lands and Fish and Game, Idaho actually closed one park, Dworshak State Park near Orofino. The state was hoping the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which owns the property, would take it over, but the Corps said it couldn’t, and the park closed.

“The locals said, ‘Hey, we can’t afford that,’ ” meaning the loss of the park, said David White, northern region manager for Idaho’s state park system. “It is one of the main recreational opportunities in Clearwater County.”

An outcry against closing state parks started there and spread statewide. With help from the local city, county, businesses, law enforcement, and even labor from a nearby prison, Dworshak reopened four months later with a smaller staff and a more limited operating calendar. “They showed us this was important to them, and they were willing to help,” White said.

At Otter’s direction, then-state Parks Director Nancy Merrill created business plans for every state park.

According to the latest estimate from the legislative budget office, in 2014, Idaho’s state parks were 94.6 percent self-sufficient, though that varied widely by park. The legislative estimate showed Priest Lake, Farragut, Round Lake and Heyburn all earning more than they spent on base operations. But Old Mission State Park earned 48.4 percent of its expenses, and the Coeur d’Alene Parkway just 31.6 percent of its expenses.

Otter is pleased with the progress and he isn’t proposing any more cuts to parks – though he said they’ll have to justify “every penny” they request.

“The final-final to the story is that we didn’t shut down a park,” he said. “The people of Idaho said, ‘No, we don’t want to shut them down.’ ”