DEC Closing Some NY Campgrounds

To save money (and it’s about time), New York State is closing down six campgrounds in Upstate New York.

“As Governor Paterson has made clear, New York is facing a large budget deficit and must make many hard choices,” Commissioner Grannis said. “Closing these facilities for the 2009 season is one such hard choice, but is one that is necessary in these tough economic times.”

The six facilities slated for closure are:
– Poke-O-Moonshine, Essex County, Town of Keesville (Adirondacks).
– Sharp Bridge, Essex County, Town of North Hudson (Adirondacks).
– Point Comfort, Hamilton County, Town of Piseco (Adirondacks).
– Tioga Point, Hamilton County, Town of Raquette Lake (Adirondacks).
– Beaverkill, Sullivan County, Town of Roscoe (Catskills).
– Bear Spring Mountain, Delaware County, Town of Walton (Catskills).

These facilities were selected based upon sparse use over the previous years – often the camps had an occupancy rate 20 percent or less. Poke-O-Moonshine had an occupancy rate of 8 percent or less the last two years.

I don’t know how expensive it is to run a state campground, but it must be in the hundreds of thousands? Still, if New York government eliminated even handful of the glut of expensive administrative jobs and cushy pensions for retired State educators, we’d save a bundle more.