OurMichiganParks.org

From the Grand Rapids Press:

It has taken a year and half of political wrangling, but a smart proposal for funding Michigan state parks finally is law. A four-bill package was signed Wednesday by Gov. Jennifer Granholm.

The bills create a state park passport that will go into effect in October. The passport will do away with daily entry fees for Michigan residents and reduce the cost of annual admission from $24 to $10.

It wasn’t an easy passage. The Chamber of Commerce and transportation lobby opposed it. Speaker of the House Andy Dillon held it up over the holidays, reportedly to help an old college buddy, now a transportation lobbyist.

But in the end, wiser heads prevailed.

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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.

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.

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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.”