State parks receiving enough money for survival — so far

Nate Hulings

of the Gateway

Drivers who are renewing their license tabs can help save Joemma Beach and Kopachuck state parks, thanks to a local group’s efforts to keep state parks open and healthy.

The idea of “opt-out” state park donations was proposed to state legislators by Preserve Our Parks, a group of citizens who banded together to save Kopachuck. When POP got word that Kopachuck was on a list of state parks set to be closed earlier this year, it rallied to find support.

Donating $5 may not seem like much, but the amount is on pace to protect the 40 state parks that were threatened with temporary closure because of state budget cuts.

The program, which has been in place since September, has raised $1.4 million — a pace that needs to continue to close the budget gap. The September numbers include July and August renewals and donations from the previous program.

A $5 donation is automatically added when drivers renew their license. Drivers who aren’t interested in donating the money can check a box to opt out. Donations made in error also can be corrected and reimbursed.

The “opt-out” model is similar to what Montana uses to fund its parks, said Linda Gough, chair of POP.

“We’ve had very few people complain about it,” she said. “The overall response, most people say, “Five bucks for state parks? Of course we’ll do it.”

The magic number for all parks to remain open is $28 million, meaning monthly donations will have to come to $1.25 million in the next 22 months.

More than $50 million was cut from the state’s General Fund tax based for the state parks budget during the 2009-11 biennial budget process.

POP held a rally in March at Kopachuck to gain momentum after hearing about the slashed funds.

“It really was the voice of the people,” Gough said. “We try to bring out the voice of the people. We knew, from talking to folks, about the effect that parks had on people’s lives.”

Funding updates

Monthly reports will be available online at www.parks.wa.gov/donations.