Wednesday, Sep 14 2011 1:14PM
Some communities and nonprofit organizations in Arizona provided the state parks agency with $800,000 to keep some parks in operation.
More than $800,000 was raised by local communities and nonprofit organizations and given to Arizona State Parks (ASP) to keep 14 of the state's parks open.
The Arizona Republic reports these communities and organizations donated funding to the agency because the parks are a considerable part of the state's economy and help sustain many rural communities.
However, one member of ASP told the paper that the funds will only help keep the parks operating for the next few months.
"The good news is, the parks are open for the public, and the parks continue to be the economic engines in these rural communities," Renée Bahl, ASP executive director, told the newspaper. "The bad news is, these are short-term solutions. They are not sustainable."
Funding used to be provided to state parks through the Heritage Fund. However, money from the fund will no longer be allocated to the parks, the paper reports.
According to a study by the Arizona Hospitality Research & Resource Center at Northern Arizona University, Tonto Natural Bridge, one of the state parks that nearly closed in the past few years due to insufficient revenues, had a $3.56-million economic impact on area communities in fiscal year 2007.