Just as Memorial Day weekend approaches and many people will be heading to state parks to enjoy the warm, sunny weather in the forecast, advocacy groups are calling attention to threats looming in the General Assembly to the open spaces many residents enjoy.

“It would be awful if the full amount of the cuts proposed are not restored,” Eric Hammerling, executive director of the Connecticut Forest & Park Association, said Thursday, as he spent the day at the Capitol talking to state lawmakers. “In the next week is when people who want their voices to be heard need to send emails or make calls to their legislators and the governor’s office.”

Before the General Assembly session ends June 3, lawmakers will be deciding on the budget for state parks. The budget proposed by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy would cut that budget by $2 million, Hammerling said, forcing the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to lay off two-thirds of its 550 to 600 seasonal staff, which in turn would force the closure of many state parks, including some with campgrounds.

Alternate budget packages proposed by Democratic and Republican legislators would restore some or all of the cuts, but there is as yet no agreement on the best way to close the overall budget deficit without hefty tax hikes.

Pamela Adams of Colchester, president of the Friends of Connecticut State Parks, said her group is working with the forest and park association and other advocacy organizations to urge people who care about state parks to contact lawmakers.

“Many members of our friends groups are very concerned about this,” she said. “It’s very frustrating that we have to keep fighting for these things.”

Statewide, there are 24 friends groups for individual state parks, combining for an overall membership of 6,000 in the Friends of Connecticut State Parks. In testimony to the legislature, Adams, who retired as DEEP’s director of state parks six years ago, said staffing for the 108 parks is “at its lowest point in more than 40 years, with the appearance of buildings and grounds being impacted.”

In an email to members, Hammerling said the state parks system “has only been allowed to hire minimum numbers of replacement staff for its many retirees; full time staff only numbers about 70 which, by no measure, is adequate to service 8 million visitors.”

Eileen Grant of Madison, legislative co-chairwoman for the friends group, said that unless funding is restored, many lesser-used inland state parks are likely to be closed or have reduced services, as DEEP concentrates curtailed staffing on the most popular shoreline parks including Rocky Neck in East Lyme and Hammonasset in Madison.

“They would have to withdraw services, and remove Dumpsters and picnic tables from the inland parks,” she said.

State Rep. James Albis, D-East Haven and co-chairman of the Environment Committee, said there is bipartisan support for restoring some or all of the funding to state parks, which he said have been “underfunded for some time.”

“This is a priority for a lot of people,” he said.

In another development related to state parks funding, a bill introduced by state Sen. Ted Kennedy Jr., D-Branford and Environment Committee co-chairman, received unanimous approval in the Senate on Wednesday and will head to the House of Representatives next week.

The measure would allow DEEP to generate more revenues through concessions and other services. Connecticut is one of only a few states that fund their state parks entirely through the state general fund, Kennedy said in a news release.

“The bill allows DEEP to determine ways that the parks can generate additional revenue for their operations while offering expanded recreational amenities like canoe rentals, event hosting and more to visitors,” he said.

In addition, the bill would enable parks to solicit more individual and corporate donations, and allow them to erect signs recognizing donors.

Dan Doyle, spokesman for Kennedy, said the purpose of the bill is “to help relieve parks of some of the stresses they’ve been under. It’s not intended to replace general funding support.”

Hammerling, Grant and Adams all said that while they support the bill, it still leaves parks unable to collect revenues from the most lucrative concessions. Food service concessions at the largest parks are run by the state Department of Developmental Services and the Bureau of Education and Services for the Blind.

"Parks would be able to earn a bit more through concessions" if the measure passes, Grant said. All three said they are disappointed a provision in the original bill that would have allowed residents to make a $5 voluntary contribution to state parks when they pay to register their vehicles was removed from the version passed Wednesday. 

Albis said he supports the bill as a way to begin addressing some of the longstanding problems with funding for state parks.

“I’m going to be pushing for it,” he said.

j.benson@theday.com

Twitter: @BensonJudy