Maryhill Park may be closed

State budget woes have forced Washington Gov. Gary Locke and the Washington State Parks and Recreation Department to consider canceling leases on 13 state parks, including Maryhill State Park across from Biggs Junction.

The parks are leased from a variety of agencies and state officials hope those property owners will help with maintenance costs.

If that help is not forthcoming, "it is certain" the parks will close, said Virginia Painter of the WSPRD Public Relations office.

"We've had to implement so many cuts that the governor finally decided that we're going to have to do something with the parks as well," Painter said.

"We're currently having discussions with the owners of these properties," Painter said, "and it looks like it'll be June before any kind of decision is reached."

State parks has stewardship responsibilities until September, Painter said, and if the State of Washington doesn't receive financial help from the Army Corps of Engineers, those parks will be closed and care for the land will revert to the Corps at the end of September.

Locke's 2003 supplemental budget proposes $1.2 billion in cuts to address a general fund shortfall.

According to the WSPRD Commission website (www.parks.wa.gov) "at this level, the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission's share would mean a $2.6 million (6.7 percent) reduction in the agency's second-year ... expenditure capability."

State parks would spend more than $2 million in the years 2001-2003. In addition, development costs for improvements to campgrounds, boat launches and other recreational facilities on leased lands have cost the state about $9 million since the 1960s.

Among other budget cutting measures, the parks commission is considering closure of parks owned and operated by the state parks department itself, with the intent of mothballing them for a minimum of three years.

The cost of operating these parks, the commission maintains, exceeds the revenue they generate, while the owners have been relieved of most management responsibilities and associated costs.