State May Temporarily Shut Some Parks To Save Money
POSTED: Friday, November 14, 2008
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- State officials are considering closing 19 Florida state parks temporarily in 2009 for financial reasons.Earlier this fall, Gov. Charlie Crist asked all state agencies to come up with a way to cut 10 percent of their operating costs from their proposed 2009-10 budget requests.The Division of Recreation and Parks has proposed temporarily closing 19 state parks to meet the 10 percent cut. Officials are also considering turning over management of three other parks owned by other agencies but currently managed by the state.The parks were chosen based on low visitation numbers and revenue, and officials said they will remain under the supervision of a full-time caretaker if temporarily shut down.A state parks spokeswoman says Florida would reopen the parks when the economy improves.
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