Wyoming state parks support spending flexibility bill

(The Center Square) – After a record year of visitors, Wyoming state parks may soon get some assistance.

Help could be coming in the form of added spending flexibility via House Bill 58.

COVID-19 drove many Wyomingites and visitors to the state’s parks while also leading state budget cuts, which left the department with $1.1 million less than years before.

The Casper Star-Tribune reported 2020 saw almost 1.5 million more people visit state parks and historical sites than the previous year. The extra traffic led to the development of erosion-prone side trails, staff hard-pressed to keep up with bathroom usage and the need for provisional extra parking lots.

User fees to enter state parks could solve this deficiency if the bill gets passed.

Currently, 70% of user fees collected in Wyoming’s state parks must be used for capital construction, according to Nick Neylon, Wyoming State Parks deputy director, which leaves 30% to be used for maintenance. The bill would increase the percentage to 60%, giving the parks more flexibility to decide where the money is needed most, and also expands the definition to include operations.

Neylon says this will allow them to do more.

“Expanding the definition to operations opens up our ability to pay other expenses like park utility bills, which are significant, in addition to things like basic supplies: toilet paper, lawn mower blades, things like that,” he told The Center Square.

It also would allow them to expand the types of seasonal workers they hire beyond maintenance people to include fee collectors, interpretive personnel, additional law enforcement and visitor center personnel, Neylon said.

“Hiring those additional seasonals is critical because our visitation has increased dramatically,” he said. “We were up 36% last year as more people did everything they could to get outside during the COVID epidemic.”

In the future, if the department does not need as much funding allocated to maintenance and operations, state parks will have the ability to put it towards capital construction.

“If we don’t need to use 60%, we’re not going to, but we need to have the ability to go to that amount if circumstances dictate that but it’s not our desire to go there,” Neylon said.

If the bill doesn’t pass, Neylon said the department might have to look at closing some parks, but they’re confident that won’t have to happen. He said they’re optimistic their request for increased spending flexibility as reflected in the bill will be granted.

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