Cutbacks in funding mean cutbacks in operating hours at many Texas state parks. To the disappointment of RV-goers, parks that used to offer camping and other amenities now are only open for day use.
Staffing has also taken a hit. State parks don't even have the funding to staff the entrance booths to collect fees. Park rangers have been laid off and park entrances now rely on the honesty policy for visitors to pay.
Texas ranks 49th among the 50 states in per capita spending on parks. The Texas Parks and Wildlife division operates on about $54 million annually for its 120 parks. That means $450,000 per park for staffing, maintenance and operation. Many parks need millions of dollars in facilities upgrades.
Nails Creek State Park, about 60 miles east of Austin, is one of 50 parks that had to cut services.
"People can't go there to camp anymore, there's no money to operate it. So eventually you have to start closing things down," Austin Viegh of Texas Parks and Wildlife said.
 |  |
 | |  |
| | | | | | | |
The real cost
Underfunded parks have been forced to reduce hours, close campgrounds and lay off employees.
 
| | |
| | | | | |
|
Nails Creek doesn't allow overnight camping anymore, and on a recent Saturday in April it was completely empty. Five full-time positions were cut, including Viegh's. Soon after he lost his ranger job, he fortunately got relocated to Austin for a desk job at headquarters.
"It felt like that was where I belonged. It becomes a family and not getting to work with these folks on a day to day basis is tough," Viegh said.
The Legislature is working to restore funding to Texas' state parks after budget cuts in 2005. Since 1995, state parks have been funded from a portion of the sales tax from sporting goods, but it was capped at $32 million. Last year, parks received just $20.6 million from the estimated $105 million the tax garnered.
House Bill 6 would make sure all the money collected from the sales tax goes to fund parks.
"People call and ask when we are going to open [the campgrounds] back up. Our response is that we are at the hands of the Legislature. We are probably in the worst shape that we've ever seen, we can't continue to operate on the budget we get right now," Kim Osch of Texas Parks and Wildlife said.
Texas Parks and Wildlife has held open about 100 full-time positions and hundreds of season employees a year since the layoffs to cut down on salary costs began. Open positions on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website show park rangers start at $9.73 an hour for a Class 1 ranger and go up to $2, 378 per month for a Class 4 ranger. Park police officers make a little more, starting at $2,658 per month.
