Alabama state parks held hostage in budget battle

Icy DeSoto Falls is in January in Mentone, Ala.
Icy DeSoto Falls is in January in Mentone, Ala.

As Alabama's state budget crisis barrels onward with no plan in place for the 2015-16 fiscal year, the state parks system remains caught in the crosshairs. It's a battle between state legislators hesitant to raise taxes and Gov. Robert Bentley, who is proposing a tax package that would fully fund the state's non-education programs.

The budget passed by state legislators in June that Bentley vetoed would have cut funding for the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources by $9.2 million. Director of State Parks Greg Lein said Tuesday that the proposal would have collapsed the entire state parks system, including five parks within a two-hour drive of Chattanooga. It also would have affected the department's three other divisions.

A later budget passed by the state Senate in a special session - also vetoed by Bentley - would have slashed the conservation department by more than $18 million, an amount that Lein and other leaders in the department say would cripple their ability to provide services that Alabama residents depend on.

In advance of a second special session to resolve the budget issue that is expected to be called after Labor Day, officials with the DCNR held a news conference Tuesday at Joe Wheeler State Park in Rogersville to spread the word about what would happen if legislators continue to resist tax increases.

Likewise, Alabama Secretary of Law Enforcement Spencer Collier said Monday in Scottsboro that he will close all but the state's four largest driver's license offices next year if the Legislature don't provide more funding than it has proposed so far.

Both Collier's department and the DCNR are an extension of the governor's office, however, and some Alabama legislators see their seemingly dire statements as bluffs coming conveniently before Bentley is expected to call the second special session.

"Part of it is purely fear-mongering with the people," Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-DeKalb County, said. "The governor is trying to push an agenda with more taxes, and the people just don't want it."

Chuck Sykes, director of DCNR's wildlife and freshwater fisheries division, contested that idea. He laid out a scenario in which his department would no longer be able to effectively manage the state's hunting and fishing seasons if its funding is cut for a fifth straight year.

"It's not a scare tactic," Sykes said. "All I can go on is past performance [of the legislature] to predict what's going to happen in the future. They've been in session most of the year. They haven't come up with a workable solution yet."

Meanwhile, Ken Thomas, superintendent of DeSoto State Park in Fort Payne, said he is depending on Bentley and the legislature to reach a solution.

"We want it to stay open," he said. "If anything, we want people in Chattanooga to know that we're still open, and we're going to stay open until somebody tells us differently."

Contact staff writer David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6249.

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