I did do a quick search. Michigan State Parks are not necessarily 100% self funded. The Department of Natural Resources is funded by General Fund Revenues, Federal Funding and Restricted Funds, where "restricted funds" are the monies from park fees and hunting licenses and similar related fees.
So you are wrong that no General Fund monies can go to the support of parks. On the flip side, I was wrong in that no monies from the restricted funds can be diverted to the general fund.
One of our neighbors was a Michigan State Park manager for many many years until he retired. He now lives in the U.P. The person who lives in his old home is a retired DNR officer and district manager's son and he visits their son a lot and yes, we talk. That's the personal up front knowledge and it's also spelled out in the michigan.gov site in the DNR section but it takes a little digging. We Michigan residents voted to have the State Parks be self funding years ago (can't remember the exact year) and it's the law in our state. Operations and maintenance of all Michigan State Parks does NOT come from the general fund and hasn't for years now. The DNR is responsible for overseeing and controlling of the State Park system in Michigan but not the financing there of in any way.
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"In 2011, the program's first year, the DNR set a goal of 24.3 percent participation by Michigan motorists. Final tallies for the first year show that the goal was met and exceeded, with 24.7 percent of Michigan motorists checking "Yes" to support the Recreation Passport when renewing their motor vehicle registration. In total, the revenue generated by the sale of the Recreation Passport was $18,816,500."
"Invalid formatting" is why I didn't copy and paste the actual worded passages.
You obviously know the truth also.
The self-funding project/staute was originally setup by Gov Engler around 15 or so years ago and went into effect during Gov Granholm's tenure. It was first necessary to bring the parks up to a level of "good repair" before the self-funding could take over and be successful. Now it's working very well and the continous upgrading of the parks and the facilities within is going on today with NO general fund money.
I for one hope they never make "full hookups" the norm in the State Parks. There's a max of 14 days per stay anyway and this gives more RV'ers and campers the chance of getting a site during the summer months. The State Parks are NOT trailer etc parks like so many private parks/CG's have become now with allowing and promoting seasonal occupancy. A State Park has everything to do with being in real nature/natural surroundings just like the National Parks are. Not highly structured parking lots with games/rides/pools/etc you name it to babysit kids.
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edited 07/02/12 03:20pm by travelnutz *
I'm still trying to sort this out. It seems the history goes back more than a decade with the creation of the state parks endowment fund and the use of lease revenue and royalties from mineral rights from state owned land to fund the endowment, plus other contributions from the legislature of something on the order of $5 million per year. I have seen differing amounts on what the fund was to be capped at. One number was $500,000 million. Another number was $800 million. In another place it was $500 million, to be adjusted for inflation annually until it reached $800 million. Who knows what the right number is?
It seems like the total history is much more complicated than just just saying that from now on, dollars in must match dollars out. If a huge endowment was created with funds from other sources so that the interest from that fund can be used to help the state parks, then that was just a way to work around getting money from the general fund on an annual basis.
VTX1300Rider wrote: Ever since Maryland State Park system implemented a no alcohol policy, the parks have been a lot more empty. One idiot screws it up for the rest, and the state also loses revenue in result of bad policies!
FYI, alcohol is allowed in motorhomes and cabins.
I'm finding that getting a last minute reservation is nearly impossible for any maryland state campgrounds. I do not notice any campgrounds being empty on the weekends until at least October. I don't think prohibiting public alcohol consumption is losing the state money.
Additionally, in VA you can only have alcohol in rvs or cabins, same as MD. In PA alcohol is prohibited altogether. In fact, in quite a few states, public alcohol consumption is prohibited.
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VTX1300Rider wrote: Ever since Maryland State Park system implemented a no alcohol policy, the parks have been a lot more empty. One idiot screws it up for the rest, and the state also loses revenue in result of bad policies!
FYI, alcohol is allowed in motorhomes and cabins.
I'm finding that getting a last minute reservation is nearly impossible for any maryland state campgrounds. I do not notice any campgrounds being empty on the weekends until at least October. I don't think prohibiting public alcohol consumption is losing the state money.
Additionally, in VA you can only have alcohol in rvs or cabins, same as MD. In PA alcohol is prohibited altogether. In fact, in quite a few states, public alcohol consumption is prohibited.
You are correct about alcohol being allowed in trailers and motorhomes. But there is nothing like sitting at a campfire in the dark with a beer in hand. It adds to the experience.
In regards to parks being booked, I was at Janes Island two weekends ago and half the sites were empty. I've been looking and most campgrounds always have sites available for the upcoming weekends. There are certain parks that fill up very quickly, such as Assateague State Park. That park is booked a year in advance for all of their electric sites. I think Swallow Falls State Park books up rather quick as well, primarily because they now offer Full Hookups, unlike most of MD's state parks.
I just stated the loss of revenue for state parks, primarily because it's just another restriction to make us less free americans. When I was at Martinak State Park, the ranger and I were talking about the alcohol policy and it came down to one or two campers a year that ruined it for the rest of us.
* This post was
edited 07/02/12 06:16pm by VTX1300Rider *
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