OurMichiganParks.org

From the Muskegon Chronicle:

West Michigan tourism officials are pleased by passage of a plan that will allow Michigan motorists to visit state parks by paying a $10 fee when they renew their vehicle license plates each year.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm is expected to sign the plan into law.

Bills setting up a state parks passport system were finalized Thursday by the Michigan Legislature and are headed to Granholm’s desk.

Read the entire article

The Michigan Senate passed the State Park funding bills today and sent them on their way to their final stop — the governor’s desk.

This morning Detroit News published an article on these bills prior to their passage:

“We have not had any general fund support for our parks for almost six years now, and in the meantime the infrastructure continues to deteriorate,” [Senator Patty] Birkholz said. “We’ve barely been able to keep up (with basic maintenance).

“This gives us a way to streamline how we operate our state parks, so that now we can have parks people that were in booths out working in the parks to improve them.”

The last three bills — SB 389, SB 1057, and HB 4677 – in a four-bill package for state park funding have passed the House today. They are headed to the Senate where they may be voted on as soon as tomorrow.

Please contact your State Senator and ask that they support these bills.

HB 5752 passed the Senate last week, was ordered enrolled and was presented to the Governor.

Senate Bills 389 and 1057 and House Bill 4677 will come up for a final vote in the State House of Representatives tomorrow, Wednesday, March 24th!  The first bill in the package, House Bill 5752 passsed last week.

If you care about Michigan’s state parks, forest recreation areas and trails and their contribution to Michigan’s tourism economy, today and tomorrow morning is the time to call your state representative and ask them to support this legislation.

The passport will drop state park annual fees by 60% and allow a convenient, individual option that people will be able to partake of when they register their vehicle every year.  By having more people participate, it is expected that enough revenue will come in to maintain and improve our state park infrastructure and award small grants to local community recreation projects.

Thanks to the champions of this legislation: Senator Patricia Birkholz, Senator Raymond Basham, Representative Rebekah Warren, and Rep. Arlan Meekhof.

Let’s give this package one last push!  Call your State Representative today!  You can go to www.michiganlegislature.org for contact information for your particular legislator.