The List of New York State Parks to Be Closed

I have not heard much of anything since Governor Paterson announced in February that New York State government would be closing 41 state parks and historic sites. Is this really going to happen?

In February, Governor David A. Paterson had issued the following statement:

“New York faces an historic fiscal crisis of unprecedented magnitude. It has demanded many difficult but necessary decisions to help ensure the fiscal integrity of our State. The unfortunate reality of closing an $8.2 billion deficit is that there is less money available for many worthy services and programs. In an environment when we have to cut funding to schools, hospitals, nursing homes, and social services, no area of State spending, including parks and historic sites, could be exempt from reductions. We cannot mortgage our State’s financial future through further gimmicks or avoidance behavior. Spending cuts, however difficult, are needed in order to put New York on the road to fiscal recovery. Going forward through the budget process, I look forward to a productive dialogue with the Legislature on parks and historic sites, as well as other issues.”

OPRHP Commissioner Carol Ash issued the following statement:

“The 2010-11 Executive Budget included reductions to every area of State spending. As such, the Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation has today put forward proposed closures and service reductions to meet its agency savings target. These actions were not recommended lightly, but they are necessary to address our State’s extraordinary fiscal difficulties.”

The National Park Service sent a warning letter to Governor Paterson, saying that closing any parks that have received federal funding in the past might disqualify them for federal funding in the future.

National Park Service officials have warned the state that closing the parks could put New York in violation of federal requirements. Under the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund, New York has received approximately $230 million in assistance since 1965. According to the NPS, most of the parks and sites slated for closure have received federal funding from the LWCF or from the Federal Lands to Parks programs. NPS said closure of any state park or site that has received that assistance would be seen as noncompliance with federal requirements, which could jeopardize the state’s eligibility for participating in the program and could prevent the state from receiving thousands in federal assistance.

In a March 31 letter to Gov. David Paterson, national park service officials said closure of any park acquired through FLP could result in “reversion of the property to federal ownership and subsequent sale of the property.”

“Our position is that these are temporary closures, not permanent. We have no plans to convert the lands to other purposes,” said state parks spokesman Dan Keefe. “They’re temporary closures in response to the state’s fiscal crisis and they should not jeopardize federal funding.”

On Friday, Paterson’s office also responded to the National Park Service’s concerns, promising the parks and historic sites will be maintained as public outdoor recreation use in perpetuity. He said he’s asked Ash to meet with NPS to ensure that spending reductions won’t jeopardize the state’s eligibility to receive funding through the Land and Water Conservation Fund. His letter also pointed out that the state now receives only $2 million annually from the LWCF.

Here’s the list, issued by the State, of the recommended closures and service reductions:

Saratoga-Capital Region
• Bennington Battlefield State Historic Site (Rensselaer)–Close Historic Site
• Hudson River Islands State Park (Rensselaer)–Close Park
• John Boyd Thacher State Park (Albany)–Close Park
• John Brown Farm Historic Site (Essex)–Close Historic Site
• Johnson Hall State Historic Site (Fulton)–Close Historic Site
• Max V. Shaul State Park (Schoharie)–Close Park
• Schodack Island State Park (Rensselaer)–Close Park
• Schoharie Crossing Historic Site (Montgomery)–Close Historic Site
• Schuyler Mansion Historic Site (Albany)–Close Historic Site

Central Region
• Chittenango Falls State Park (Madison)–Close Park
• Clark Reservation State Park (Onondaga)–Close Park
• Fort Ontario State Historic Site (Oswego)–Close Historic Site
• Helen McNitt State Park (Madison)–Close Park
• Herkimer Home Historic Site (Herkimer)–Close Historic Site
• Hunts Pond State Park (Chenango)–Close Park
• Oquaga Creek State Park (Broome)–Close Park
• Old Erie Canal State Park (Onondaga)–Close Park
• Oriskany Battlefield/Steuben SHS (Oneida)–Close Historic Site
• Pixley Falls State Park (Oneida)–Close Park
• Robert Riddell State Park (Delaware)–Close Park
• Selkirk Shores State Park (Oswego)–Close Public Swimming Beach

Finger Lakes Region
• Beechwood State Park (Wayne)–Close Park
• Bonavista State Park (Seneca)–Close Park
• Chimney Bluffs State Park (Wayne)–Close Park
• Newtown Battlefield State Park (Chemung)–Close Park
• Springbrook Greens State Park (Cayuga)–Close Park
• Two Rivers State Park (Tioga)–Close Park
• Buttermilk Falls State Park (Tompkins)–Close Public Swimming Area
• Seneca Lake State Park (Seneca)–Close Lake Swimming Beach
• Stony Brook State Park (Steuben)–Close Public Swimming Area

Thousand Islands Region
• Canoe Island State Park (Jefferson)–Close Park
• Cedar Island State Park (Jefferson)–Close Park
• Eel Weir State Park (St. Lawrence)–Close Park
• Keewaydin State Park (Jefferson)–Close Park
• Macomb Reservation State Park (Clinton)–Close Park
• Mary Island State Park (Jefferson)–Close Park
• Point Au Roche State Park (Clinton)–Close Park
• Sackets Harbor State Historic Site (Jefferson)–Close Historic Site

Genesee Region
• Hamlin Beach State Park (Monroe)–Close Swimming Beach 3 Days per Week
• Oak Orchard State Marine Park (Orleans)–Close Park
• Regionwide Multiple Eliminate Camper Recreation Program

Niagara Region
• Joseph Davis State Park (Niagara)–Close Park
• Knox Farm State Park (Erie)–Close Park
• Wilson-Tuscarora State Park (Niagara)–Close Park
• Woodlawn Beach State Park (Erie)– Close Park
• Regionwide–Reduce interpretive programs

Allegany Region
• Allegany State Park (Cattaraugus)–Close Quaker Area Swim Beach; Close Quaker Cabins Area on December 1st; Eliminate Winter Trails Maintenance; Reduce Recreation Programs
• Long Point State Park (Chautauqua)–Close Park

Long Island
• Brookhaven State Park (Suffolk)–Close Park
• Bethpage State Park (Suffolk)–Eliminate Winter Sports; Reduce picnic area and polo field
• Caleb Smith State Park Preserve (Suffolk)–Close Park
• Cold Spring Harbor State Park (Suffolk)–Close Park
• Connetquot River State Park (Suffolk)–Close Weekdays
• Heckscher State Park (Suffolk)–Close Swimming Pool
• Jones Beach State Park (Nassau)–Close West Swimming Pool; Eliminate July 4th fireworks
• Montauk Downs State Park (Suffolk)–Close Swimming Pool
• Nissequogue River State Park (Suffolk)–Close Park
• Orient Beach State Park (Suffolk)–Close Park
• Trail View State Park (Suffolk)–Close Park

New York City Region
• Bayswater Point State Park (Queens)–Close Park
• Riverbank State Park (New York)–Reduce Operating Hours; Close Outdoor Swimming Pool; Eliminate Seniors Classes, and Community/Cultural Events

Palisades Region
• Fort Montgomery Historic Site (Orange)–Close Historic Site
• Harriman SP– Anthony Wayne (Orange)–Close Park Area
• Harriman SP – Group Camps (Orange)–Reduce Maintenance
• High Tor State Park (Rockland)–Close Pool
• Knox Headquarters Historic Site (Orange)–Close Historic Site
• New Windsor Cantonment SHS (Orange)– Close Historic Site
• Schunnemunk State Park (Orange)– Close Park
• Stony Point State Historic Site (Orange)–Close Historic Site
• Tallman Mountain State Park (Rockland)–Close Pool

Taconic Region
• Donald J. Trump State Park (Westchester)–Close Park
• FDR (Roosevelt) State Park (Westchester)–Reduce Swimming Pool Season
• Hudson Highlands State Park (Putnam)–Close Arden Point Area
• James Baird State Park (Dutchess)–Reduce Golf Course Season
• Mills Norrie State Park (Dutchess)–Reduce Golf Course Season
• Olana State Historic Site (Columbia)–Close 2 Days per Week
• Philipse Manor Hall Historic Site (Westchester)–Close Historic Site
• Rockefeller State Park Preserve (Westchester)–Eliminate Interpretive Programs
• Taconic Outdoor Education Center (Putnam)–Eliminate Interpretive Programs
• Taconic State Park – Rudd Pond (Dutchess)–Close Rudd Pond Area
• Wonder Lake State Park (Putnam)–Close Park

As I’ve stated before, closing New York’s parks would save very little money, and would most likely cost the state much more. Moreover, this seems more like punishment toward us New Yorkers, especially when a.) this “financial crisis” has been evident for decades but NY government refused to address it at all, b.) New York government could slash a lot more government and bureaucratic jobs to save money, c.) there’s so much waste and corruption in Albany and New York City that squeezing out a few nickels and dimes from our tourism department would be humorous if it wasn’t so explosively outrageous.

New York State to Consider Closing Parks

Not good news. We all know that New York State is financially strapped, and the signs of bankruptcy have been evident for years; New York State government has had years to resolve the problem, but hadn’t. Now, suddenly, the state wants to slash everything. In the big scramble to remain solvent, Governor Paterson is considering closing several state parks and historic sites across the state (mostly Upstate). This is from Jim Walter, Executive Director at Madison County Tourism:

New York State’s tourism promotion budget has been slashed 27% under Governor Patterson. The Governor has proposed cutting another 30% from the state tourism budget for the upcoming fiscal year. On top of that the Governor has proposed merging the Matching Funds Grants which fund local tourism promotion ($58,000 for Madison County Tourism last year) with the overall tourism promotion effort led by Empire State Development’s division of Tourism. This would effectively eliminate the tourism grant program and cut Madison County’s marketing efforts by 32% in 2010.

It’s a really stupid move to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. New York State has promoted it’s amazing tourist attractions for years, and now suddenly they want to shut parts of it down?! New York State should turn this around, and make some lemonade out of lemons. The economy isn’t only affecting state government, ya know! It’s affecting everybody! So that means that people are traveling less extensively, and staying in the local region more. But people still need to take breaks, so it’s obvious that we will look to local tourist attractions and parks for those breaks. The state is really doing stupid thing. The state needs these parks, has a vested financial interest in keeping them. It is reported that more than 53 million people visited state parks in 2009! In 2008, tourism in New York generated $7 BILLION. More importantly, we taxpayers NEED these parks. Paying all these super-high taxes and living among such acrimonious government isn’t very fun, you know. It’s a little soothing to know that at least SOME of our taxes goes toward something else besides paying the heating bills at Gracie Mansion and for the billions of people on Medicaid. :-p

If we New Yorkers need to do a little more on our own to keep things like this afloat, so be it. For example, have school children go on “community clean up” field trips where the kids visit a park and clean up the park as well. Or, reduce waste such as printing fewer of those bloated, extraneous brochures that clutter up the visitor’s centers. Moreover, why can’t the state cut the extraneous expenses elsewhere that produce little to nothing in profit? Such as the bloated administrative jobs in government offices and schools?! I don’t see why we have to cut back on everything that benefits us, and the government doesn’t cut back on their salaries or perks.

It has historically been the “New York way” to make things very unpleasant when the state sees sour times. Look at the financial problems that New York State has been having for the past 15+ years: rather than make New York State a more attractive place to live and do business, the government raises taxes, adds burdensome regulations, creates “fees,” and essentially drives out anyone who may have considered staying in or coming to NYS. When things are bad and people are leaving, don’t make things worse by raising taxes, closing the little pleasures of life, and driving out the rest of us! Making life more miserable in New York State will not help anything. STUPID!

Playing a Game!

We’re not traveling right now, so I thought we’d all enjoy a little game, This one is pretty easy! It’s especially for my American readers, but you readers in other countries will enjoy it as well– especially you who live in Venezuela, Russia, Red China, Sweden, France, and North Korea!

Let’s play, “Find the Government Worker”! Can YOU tell??

TAX Tea Party in Rome, NY

On July 4th, we visited the nice city of Rome, NY, to attend a Tea Party at the City Hall. It was the first Tea Party we’d attended.

I am not as politically active as I used to be, but I am still involved (and very much concerned) about the direction our nation is going; namely, far, far away from it’s Constitutional roots and from everything that made America great to begin with. It’s really gratifying to see these kinds of community events taking place. For almost two decades, I have been concerned about the direction our country is going– toward a police state where life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are no longer endowed by our Creator, but by the government politicians and their corporate, fascist buddies. It’s just over the top. Attending an event where this was the primary discussion was so very encouraging.

The speakers were very good. Some speeches were planned, while others were impromptu. One gentleman, whose testimony was especially riveting, I had seen at Fort Stanwix earlier that day. His name is Perry Price, a world-renowned opera singer who spoke about his experiences behind the Iron Curtain while performing in East Berlin, during the 1980s. I have always joked about how New York State will eventually stop their pussy-footing around and install a barbed-wire fence around the NY’s border, to prevent us from leaving. I should stop joking about that– it just may give the NY Legislature too many ideas. :S The closing in of East Berlin back in the 1940s happened slowly, step-by-step, until one day, Berliners were told by the government that they could no longer cross over to the West side of the city. And a wall went up, with armed guards.

It’s encouraging to see that there is a growing body of Americans dissatisfied with the encroachments of our liberties. And I especially loved this sign:

You can read more about the Tea Party purpose and keep up to date with news by going to this national Tea Party website and here’s the link to the Oneida County912ers website.

And here’s a very cool video of the Tea Party of April 15, 2009, held at Fort Stanwix in Rome, NY. Look at all those people!

Thoughts on the Associated Press Story

Note to Readers: This is not a travel post. Haha!

Earlier today on my other blog, I ranted about the FTC Bill (coming up for passage this summer). I wanted to write a little about it here, because there are a LOT of misconceptions about the issue. Firstly, the 86-page bill is here (it’s a pdf file). The bill makes a big deal about the reliability and needed oversight of “new media” (that’s us, fellow bloggers) when it comes to truth in advertising laws. Now, I will state that I am JUST FINE with truth in advertising– I have no problem with that. Rather, these are some of the issues I have with this FTC bill:

1. Blogs are OPINION forums.
The FTC desires to regulate opinions?! What will happen if one of my opinions is considered “wrong” or “misleading” by someone who has other opinions? Will I be targeted, simply because I have a blog?

2. I OWN my blogs. It’s MY private property.
This is a lot different than that “store clerk” parable that is being thrown around these days:

“If you walk into a department store, you know the (sales) clerk is a clerk,” said Rich Cleland, assistant director in the FTC’s division of advertising practices. “Online, if you think that somebody is providing you with independent advice and … they have an economic motive for what they’re saying, that’s information a consumer should know.”

The guidelines also would bring uniformity to a community that has shunned that.

This is a horribly poor allegory for sponsored posts on blogs. I OWN my blogs, I am an independent contractor, and this is MY space. A more appropriate allegory would be that of celebrity endorsement. We’ve all seen them, ever since I Love Lucy or The Honeymooners. How about Kim Komando and her GoToMyPC.com? Laura Ingraham and her Select Sleep Number Bed? Rush Limbaugh and his new GM SUV? Will they be required to hoist large placards over their heads, informing addle-brained consumers that their endorsement or product name-drop is sponsored? No! And how about movie makers with their “paid for” insertions of products and product names in movies (remember E.T.’s Reese’s Pieces?)! The movie makers get paid BIG bucks for dropping brand-names into their films. Do you think the Feds are going after them? NO!

But bloggers, who earn a measly $5-8 per sponsored post will have to do it– or be SUED or JAILED by the Feds! It’s unconscionable.

3. This bill, if passed into law, is unenforceable.
Here’s an example: on this blog, I write product reviews. Probably 80% of the product reviews I do on this blog are MY OWN. I don’t get paid for them. I just love doing product reviews. It’s WHY one of my blogs is called, uh, Freaky FRUGALite. I have a readership of educated, frugal moms and dads, and this is why I write about what I do. DUH!! Is the FTC going to sue me for this post about trying out Montezuma Cranberry Wine? I liked it and it has some certain health benefits for me. What am I to do if some addled-brained idiot buys the stuff and gets sick from it or doesn’t get any health benefit?? And how can I prove that I was never paid to write about Montezuma Wine– how on earth can I prove a negative?! I’m doing it for ME and for my readers– it’s part information and part entertainment, and the American people aren’t SO stupid so as to believe otherwise.

4. SEPs vs SEDPs: I think there should be “Stupid Laws” on the books.
If you read a blog post about how a vitamin is going to make you fly like Superman, and you buy that vitamin believing that you can now fly like Supermen, then YOU should be sued, for being such a stupid idiot! I think it’s high time Smart, Enterprising People (SEPs) had some defending here, against the Stupid, Easily-Duped People (SEDPs). The SEDs have been pandered too and coddled for tooo long. It’s about time they reaped some consequences here.

5. Next thing you know, we’ll have to have a Fairness Doctrine for blogs….!
Yeah, this is such a slippery slope! The Feds could tighten the screws, forcing us bloggers to abide by the idiotic Fairness Doctrine. Next thing you know, I won’t be able to write about Hoover vacuum cleaners unless I am “fair” and also write about Dyson vacs in the same sentence! All in the name of “fairness”! GRRRRRR!

6. Bloggers are independent thinkers, and we don’t want government-sponsored “uniformity.”
In the REAL world, that kind of uniformity is called “SLAVERY.” It’s called DEATH TO FREE ENTERPRISE, to CREATIVITY and to INNOVATION.

Finally, I like what John Dvorak had to say about this. (He’s a blogger, by the way, and he did not PAY ME to say this- happy now, FTC?):

This is like the government, in cahoots with the RIAA, going after some mom in Ohio for stupidly leaving Kazaa running on her machine and discovering she’s been a transit point for the “Best of Bee Gee’s” for the past two years. Meanwhile, the Asian mobs off the Indonesian coast are cranking out commercial counterfeit CDs by the millions. Do something about that first before you go after the oh-so-dangerous mom in Ohio.

The same holds true here. I could care less that Milly the Yarn Spinner at millysworldofyarn.com is getting free samples of yarn to review on her blog. Has she disclosed it was free yarn? Will she return the sweaters she knits from the yarn? Who cares?

We do not need the FTC looking into Milly when there are large corporations ripping off the public every day. The community of bloggers can make Milly miserable for her misleading review, but the public can do little about financial scams, major price fixing, overbilling by the phone companies, or any number of big scams. Where is the FTC?

Because the FTC so willfully ignores the obvious, most eggregious lawbreakers, and because they are instead turning their attentions to the Little Guy and the Mom Blogger, I find this bill very suspicious. It makes me really, really wonder about who is “sponsoring” this bill… where’s the FTC’s truth in advertising, huh? Who are the people pushing for this regulation?

And here’s a note to you Blog Purists who remain arrogantly unspotted by the evil taint of sponsored content– go your way to please your virginal readers with your pure and blameless content… go home from us in peace. We seek not your counsel, nor your approval. Be merry in your own little immaculate niches, and pay us dirty thieves no mind. If you believe that your content is somehow better than ours merely because of the lack of sponsored posts, that’s just fine with us. Go away now, and be merry. You’ll not be missed, anyway…

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