Sims tees off: 'Bentley's threats to close state parks are completely bogus'

(Audio above: Cliff Sims blasts the Bentley Administration’s threat to close state parks)

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — “I’m just going to say this as plain and simple as I possibly can,” Yellowhammer Radio host Cliff Sims declared during the second segment of the show Friday. “The Bentley administration’s threat to close state parks around the state of Alabama unless we raise taxes is completely bogus.

“It’s a political scare tactic, and I’m telling you, I believe they ought to be ashamed of themselves.”

Sims’ rant was inspired by a Yellowhammer News report published Friday morning calling into question the Bentley administration’s logic behind closing the parks.

The most recently proposed “barebones” budget in the Alabama Legislature would cut roughly $9 million from the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR). However, the cuts would all come from funds earmarked to be spent in other areas of the agency’s operations, not from state parks.

The state parks are largely funded by the revenue they bring in, which is estimated to be $36,523,922 next year. Last year the state parks’ operating fund was $38,101,288, making the projected difference only $1.58 million. Because this fund is created from money visitors spend at the parks themselves, the parks could make up the difference with a strong year, weather permitting.

State parks receive an additional $3 million from a tobacco settlement. These tobacco funds are the only part of the parks’ budget that could be moved somewhere else, and even that would require legislative action.

In other words, it is difficult to see how or why the state parks would be targeted for closure, if not for political purposes.

Sims compared the administration’s tactics to those of the Obama administration during the government shutdown in fall of 2013, prompting him to refer to the Governor as “OBentley.

“This is the most egregious scare tactic, and the most Obama-like move that I have seen the Bentley administration pull,” he said. “I’m going to have no choice but to call him ‘Robert OBentley’ from now on.”

Sims called on listeners to contact the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources in support of Sen. Clay Scofield’s plan to have the Forever Wild Land Trust purchase and manage some of the more “wild” state parks.

“There’s absolutely no reason to shut down the parks,” Sims reiterated. “It’s not even entirely clear that the administration has the authority to take this money out of the parks. We’ve reached a new low.”

Listen to the entire tirade in the audio clip above.