State parks to see reduced staff, hours due to budget cuts
Three state park campgrounds will close, lifeguards won’t staff shoreline beaches on Mondays and Tuesdays, and several state park museums and nature centers will have reduced hours after July 4 as the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection seeks to cut $1.8 million from its parks budget.
The reductions announced Friday by DEEP include:
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[naviga:li]Three campgrounds with the lowest attendance — Devil’s Hopyard in East Haddam, Salt Rock in Baltic and Greens Falls at Pachaug State Forest in Voluntown — will close after July 4.[/naviga:li]
[naviga:li]Other state park and forest campgrounds will close after Labor Day rather than staying open into the fall, except for campgrounds at Rocky Neck State Park in East Lyme and Hammonasset Beach State Park in Madison, which will remain open through Columbus Day.[/naviga:li]
[naviga:li]Shoreline beaches including Rocky Neck and Hammonasset will be staffed by lifeguards on Wednesdays through Sundays rather than seven days a week, and inland parks with swimming areas will have lifeguards from three to five days per week.[/naviga:li]
[naviga:li]Dinosaur State Park in Rocky Hill will be closed on Mondays; Gillette Castle in East Haddam will be open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursdays through Sundays through Labor Day, then close for the year. It had been open for longer hours seven days a week through Columbus Day.[/naviga:li]
[naviga:li]Heublein Tower at Talcott Mountain State Park in Simsbury will be open Thursday through Sunday until Labor Day. Putnam Memorial State Park in Redding will be open on weekends only.[/naviga:li]
[naviga:li]Several other smaller museums and nature centers also will have reduced hours.[/naviga:li]
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Many of DEEP’s 500 seasonal employees will work reduced hours this summer. None of DEEP's 70 full-time park staff or seasonal staff will be laid off.
The reductions will result in less maintenance at parks, including less frequent lawn mowing and possibly closure of some bathroom facilities at lesser-used parks.
The cuts were made because of a $10 million cut in DEEP’s total budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
DEEP’s total budget for its state parks division, including salaries, benefits and direct operating expenses, is about $18 million per year.
Dennis Schain, spokesman for DEEP, said the reductions will achieve most of the $1.8 million that must be cut from the parks budget.
DEEP Commissioner Rob Klee said the cuts were made to have the least impact on visitors. Hours were reduced, for example, during times with the lowest attendance.
“Our plan is designed to reduce expenses while providing the highest quality outdoor recreational opportunities for the public and ensuring public safety,” Klee said.
“By carefully analyzing how and when the public uses our state park system, we will achieve the savings we need while keeping much of what we offer at our 109 parks open and available to the public,” he said.
He said DEEP will continue its analysis of park operations to identify the potential for more savings, and expects to make additional cost-cutting moves next spring.
Schain provided attendance charts used by DEEP to determine where the cuts would have the least impact.
He said the public’s help will be needed to keep the parks clean by carrying out trash, obeying safety rules and watching children carefully, especially when no lifeguards are on duty at swimming areas.
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