Hikes in fees, reduced hours at state parks

ATLANTA - Visitors to Georgia parks will face higher fees and reduced hours this summer as the state continues to grapple with budget woes.

The state Department of Natural Resources announced Wednesday that five state parks will reduce their services and access. Twelve state historic sites will also scale back their hours.

Parking fees at state parks were boosted last week to $5 a day and $50 a year. And only a handful of state-owned swimming pools will open this year.

Layoffs and unpaid furlough days are also coming for parks employees. That means fewer rangers and game wardens to police waterways and woods as the recreation season swings into gear.

Layoffs will also deplete the work force. The state parks division is slashing 12 percent of its work force, which currently stands at 1,469.

DNR Commissioner Chris Clark called the decisions "heart-wrenching."

"We are exploring every avenue to manage budget reductions and revenue shortfalls, to properly care for our state parks and historic sites and to minimize the impact on Georgia citizens and communities," Clark said.

Georgia's network of parks and historic sites is funded by a combination of appropriated state funds and fees, from things like cottage rentals and parking. Both have been hit hard by the economy.

Revenue from fees has been shrinking. Gov. Sonny Perdue has also ordered deep cuts to state agencies as tax collections have plummeted. State parks are facing cuts of about 33 percent.

Most of the changes begin July 1:

► Bobby Brown, Hart, Providence Canyon and Sprewell Bluff state parks will reduce services with limited facilities and no on-site management. Sweetwater Creek State Park will open its visitor center four days, rather than seven.

► Hours will be reduced at the following historic sites: The Dahlonega Gold Museum, Chief Vann House, Etowah Indian Mounds, Fort Morris, Hofwyl-Broadfield Plantation, Jarrell Plantation, New Echota, Pickett's Mill Battlefield, Robert Toombs House, Traveler's Rest, Jefferson Davis and Lapham-Patterson House.

► The only swimming pools that remain open are those at High Falls, Victoria Bryant and Magnolia Springs state parks and at George T. Bagby, Little Ocmulgee and Red Top Mountain lodge.

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