Closing state parks
Maryland's Secretary of Natural Resources, John Griffin, has warned outdoors enthusiasts that the cost of the legislature's failure to quickly pass Gov. Martin O'Malley's tax increases would be dire. O'Malley is trying close a $1.7 billion budget gap during a special session that starts today.
During a meeting with fishermen and hunters at Department of Natural Resources headquarters in Annapolis on Thursday, Griffin said cuts would fall hard on his state agency, according to a power point presentation his staff distributed after the meeting.
He painted a grim picture, suggesting the DNR would have to close eight state parks, lay off more than 100 employees, and eliminate Program Open Space, a more than three decade old program that directs real estate transfer taxes to the purchase of new parks, state forests and urban playgrounds.
How seriously should folks take this gloomy forecast? On one hand, threatening to swing a machete at popular programs is a common public relations tactic ued to drum up political support for tax increases. When O'Malley was mayor of Baltimore, he threatened to lay off police officers -- a far-fetched concept in a crime-challenged city -- unless the City Council passed his tax increases. In the end, O'Malley got what he wanted. The cops kept their paychecks.
On the other hand, pinching money meant for open space has been common in Maryland's history. Former Gov. Robert Ehrlich did it when he was in a budget pinch, and so did his predecessors, Glendening and Schaefer. O'Malley promised to "fully fund" Program Open Space when he was campaigning for governor. But there is ample historical precedent for dipping into the green cookie jar when the fridge is bare.
And while O'Malley, as mayor, never followed through with his threats to hand out pink slips at police headquarters, the city Department of Recreation and Parks often got trimmed. And perhaps that's a better parallel to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, which also manages parks.
During Griffin's talk last week, he said the state DNR would also have to close eight state parks, including Pocomoke State Park, Fort Frederick and Smallwood, according to his presentation. And the DNR would have to slash its workforce by 10 percent. The loss of 135 employees would force the closure of all three of the state's warm water fish hatcheries, and reduce law enforcement in state parks and among boaters, according to the state agency.
Griffin's charts showed that the the state wildlife and parks agency has already lost 14 percent of its employees since 2002, with staffing dropping from 1,600 five years ago to 1,367 today.
"No new parks for Maryland's citizens," Griffin's presentation warned. "No new acquisition of conservation lands."
Lovers of the outdoors, what do you think of all this?
