MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Governor Robert Bentley (R-AL) is touring the state warning voters that 15 of their beloved state parks could be closed if they don’t pay more in taxes, but at least two members of the State Legislature are working behind the scenes to make sure that doesn’t happen.
A letter from State parks director Greg Lein says their emergency plan, if Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR) funding gets cut, is to close over half of state parks, including Guntersville State Park, Joe Wheeler Park, and Lake Lurleen.
Alabama State Senator Clay Scofield (R-Arab) and Representative Will Ainsworth (R-Guntersville), who both represent parts of the Guntersville area, are speaking out against the threats, saying they’ll do everything they can to keep the parks open.
“The legislative session has not reached its halfway point,” Rep. Ainsworth said in a press release, “and the new fiscal year does not begin until October, so I am concerned that Director Lein’s letter is merely an unnecessary scare tactic that is attempting to build support for Gov. Bentley’s $541 million tax plan. In the coming days, I will propose a plan that I believe can help balance the General Fund budget without breaking the ‘no new taxes’ pledge that many of my fellow lawmakers and I made to the citizens of Alabama.”
In a Facebook post Wednesday evening, Sen. Scofield said he would be meeting with the Governor Thursday to propose solutions to the parks’ funding problems—solutions the state Senator says he has been proposing for the last two years.
“Over the past four years, no other legislator has fought harder for our state parks than me and that is not going to change,” Sen. Scofield’s Facebook post said. “I am committed to fight for our state parks, especially those in Senate District 9, and I will do everything I can to keep them open. Lake Guntersville State Park has a huge economic impact on Marshall County, and I urge our citizens to join me in this fight.”
The ADCNR says they will begin closing parks as early as May 1st if changes aren’t made to the proposed 2016 Fiscal Year budget, a move critics say is tantamount to holding the parks hostage at the height of the vital tourism season when most parks are at peak profitability.
Here is a full list of the parks the Bentley administration is threatening to close:
– Bladon Springs
– Chickasaw
– Buck’s Pocket
– Paul Grist
– Florala
– Blue Springs
– Roland Cooper
– Rickwood Caverns
– Cheaha
– Lake Lurleen
– DeSoto
– Lakepoint
– Guntersville
– Joe Wheeler
– Frank Jackson
Seven additional parks will remain open, but would lose staff and support employees:
– Meaher
– Wind Creek
– Chewacla
– Monte Sano
– Cathedral Caverns
– Oak Mountain
– Gulf State Park
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— Elizabeth BeShears (@LizEBeesh) January 21, 2015
