Arizona State Parks request $15.5 million for capital improvement
November 15, 2012
Cronkite News Service reported on the Arizona State Parks requesting $15.5 million in Governor Jan Brewer's budget for capital improvement needs, which total about $200 million. Arizona State Parks hasn't received money from the state's general fund since 2009.
Grady Gammage Jr., who as a senior research fellow for Arizona State University’s Morrison Institute for Public Policy co-wrote a 2009 report on ways to fund state parks said the facilities are assets to both the state’s economy and residents.
“Part of reason people want to live in Arizona is because of the open space and natural resources of parks and it can have a lot to do with what makes the state attractive to businesses and people moving here,” Gammage said. “If you don’t support that, you risk a lot more than just damaging the parks, you risk damaging this economic engine that drives Arizona.”
Read: Lawmaker: Funding state parks improvements saves costs later
Read the report: The Price of Stewardship: The Future of Arizona State Parks
