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Maintaining Parks a Challenge Amid Staff Shortage
Posted: June 2, 2009

OSKALOOSA, Iowa - Pulling into the campground, they are fairly easy to spot. The campground regulars.

Each Iowa state park has its own. They camp together each weekend, usually at the same campsites. They know the staff by name, if the fish are biting and on what. They also notice if the shower building is not clean or if the fire rings are not being emptied of its ash.

Iowa's state parks host nearly 700,000 campers and more than 14 million visitors each year. Most are not regulars, but are Iowans looking to get back in touch with the outdoors and when they take the time and effort to come to a park, they would like it to be in prime condition.

When there are 700,000 pairs of eyes critiquing the condition of Iowa's state parks, there is no place to hide.

State parks are cared for by seasonal staff working along side the fulltime park ranger or manager. In a typical summer, 250 to 300 summer seasonal employees work 180,000 hours cleaning, mowing and doing minor repairs.

In 2009, there will be 143 summer seasonal employees working for 74,000 hours doing the same tasks.

"We just don't have the bodies in the parks that we have in the past so it will likely be a little longer between restroom cleanings and a little longer between mowing," said Kevin Szcodronski, chief of state parks for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. "We are not making excuses. All we are asking for is some patience and understanding."

Szcodronski said they are taking this opportunity to review each individual park management plan by looking for possible areas where prairies and woodlands may be installed that would improve water quality and offer nesting to songbirds and other wildlife. By converting part of the park to prairie or woodland, staff would reduce the amount of grounds that needed mowing.

He also said his staff is asking campers to clean up after themselves and to help conserve energy and water while camping. In 2008, state parks paid nearly $800,000 in utilities. That's a big light bill that can take a bite out of any budget, let alone a budget that has $1.25 million less in it than the previous year.

More than half of the budget for state parks comes from the state general fund which is made up of state income tax dollars. Iowa income tax dollars are down due to a significant national recession affecting jobs and individual spending. When state tax receipts are down, the services provided by those receipts are also impacted.

The rest of the parks budget comes from camping receipts, lodge and cabin rentals.

"I'm sure we don't hear all the complaints in the Des Moines office, but we made it through one of our busiest holiday weekends of the year with a handful of complaints and we are looking at each one to see if there is something we can do to address it," he said. "We are not making excuses but we want our campers and picnickers to understand where we are staff-wise. If they have complaints, I would like to hear them because even in our current staff situation, we still strive to offer a quality outdoor experience."

Szcodronski said he is hearing campers' question that Honey Creek Resort is the reason for the condition of the rest of the parks. This is simply not the case, he said.

"Honey Creek Resort is paid for by special appropriations and by bonds, not from the budget we work from for the rest of the parks. It's comparing apples to oranges. The two are not connected," he said.

Iowa law spells out that state parks use certain money for park operations, including maintenance, and certain money for construction projects in parks and not for operations.

"We will have some construction going on in our parks this year, like the Green Valley campground renovation, that may give the appearance that we have money to build new facilities, but not maintain our existing campgrounds. It's confusing, but each pot of money that makes up the budget has certain strings to it that can only be used for certain things," Szcodronski said.

"We are making due with what we have and cutting back in areas where we can," he said. "What you will not see in Iowa that is happening in other states is that we will not be closing any parks."

Park users wanting to help should contact the manager or ranger to see what volunteer duties are available. Mowing and cleaning are two prominent needs, but there may be other priorities within certain parks, such as trail and park grounds maintenance.

And while coping with the economic downturn has been challenging to state parks here, Iowa is not alone in having to cope with budget cuts, said Szcodronski.

"Some states are doing a little better than we are, but there are some states that are in far worse shape," Szcodronski said, pointing to a recent announcement in California that 220 state parks there could close after July 1 due to budget cuts.

"We are committed to keeping the parks open and making every effort to make each visit as enjoyable of an experience as we can during these tough economic times," Szcodronski said.