OurMichiganParks.org

Great news!

Shortly after 3pm today, Governor Jennifer Granholm signed the four state park funding bills –known collectively as the Recreation Passport — into law.

The Department of Natural Resources is now working on Question & Answer sheets  that explain the effects of this new fundamental change in how our Michigan state parks as well as state forest recreation, are funded.

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.”

From the Detroit News:

The state Senate has developed a reasonable compromise on creating a new financing system to help Michigan’s underfunded and deteriorating state parks. The legislation should be approved because it promises to generate more revenue for parks without tricking taxpayers.

Backers of the legislation, led by Republican Sen. Patricia Birkholz of Saugatuck, argue that the combination of a lowered fee and one-stop-shopping aspect of paying while re-registering vehicles will attract more Michiganians and boost revenues for badly needed improvements and repairs to park buildings, roads, water and sewer lines. Seventeen percent of car registration applicants would have to opt in to generate the $11.7 million a year current park fees raise. If 25 percent agreed to the new fee, the parks would get $6 million more a year, and so on.

Michigan’s once-heralded state park system was converted in 2004 to self-financing — supported solely by user fees. This coincided with the state’s long-running recession, and revenue hasn’t kept up with needs.

Read the entire editorial

From Howard Meyerson’s m-live column:

I typically am not one to write holiday-themed columns, but I do want to say thank you this week to the legislators in the Michigan Senate for having the wisdom to pass the Michigan State Parks Passport legislation last week.

It is a smart idea that has real potential for mitigating, if not solving, Michigan’s state park funding problems.

The legislation is only halfway home. It needs to be voted on by the state House and signed by the governor to take effect.

Read the entire column