Friday, May 28, 2010
Well, it looks like in some respects the folks in Albany have finally come to their senses... according to a number of sources, a deal has been reached to provide funding to keep all of our state parks open for the rest of the year. Hurray! Lots of cheering can now ensue!
Except...
Apparently funds are being diverted from the Environmental Protection Fund, which was established in 1993 as a way of funding a variety of environmental projects. While this isn't particularly surprising - the governor already had plans in place to request the transfer of $6 million to keep a little under half of the parks on the closure list open - it's accompanied by a plan to cut another $74 million from the EPF budget for transfer to the state's General Fund. Again, no great surprise - the EPF is a common target for this sort of thing. According to the NYNJ Trail Conference, since 2002 roughly 25% of the funds intended for the EPF have been diverted to other uses.
I'm thrilled that it looks like our parks are going to be re-opened. As I've already said, when I drove through Thacher Wednesday evening and saw "CLOSED" signs everywhere I went back and forth between being sick to my stomach and wanting to cry. But is there really no other way to make this happen? As it says on the NYNJ Trail Conference website,
The EPF protects our open space and farmland, clean drinking water, recreationalThose sound like some pretty important goals to me. Surely there are better choices for getting the money to accomplish keeping our wonderful parks open.
opportunities, related businesses, and quality of life. The EPF provides our communities recycling programs, waterfront revitalization, municipal parks,
solid waste management, zoos, botanical gardens and aquaria, pollution
prevention and more.
The EPF protects our natural resources and public health, and also plays an important role in our local economy. EPF programs eliminate solid waste, prevent pollution, provide clean drinking water, protect natural areas and community character, making our towns and villages desirable places to live, work and visit. The EPF has created or protected thousands of jobs in sectors including, but not limited to tourism, farming, engineering, solid waste management, education, science, land management, and forestry, in every county of New York State.
JMH
