From the NY Post:The Obama administration is warning of disastrous repercussions if Gov. Paterson goes ahead with his hard-times plan to close or cut services at scores of state parks.
In a strongly worded letter to the governor, Dennis Reidenbach, the National Park Service's Northeast regional chief, said the plans risked $3.4 million in federal aid and could jeopardize the state's chances for future park funding.
Moreover, the feds could claim rights to any park property closed to the public after being acquired through a federal parks program.
"The purpose of this letter is to alert you that any closure of any state park or historic site that has received [Land and Water Conservation Fund] and/or [Federal Lands to Parks] assistance would be viewed by the [park service] as being in noncompliance," Reidenbach wrote in the March 31 missive.
The letter was drawn up at the request of Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-Ulster), who has called on Paterson to reverse his park plans.
Paterson proposed closing or cutting services at as many as 79 parks and historic sites to save $11.2 million in a bid to help close an estimated $9.2 billion budget gap.
Paterson says he must proceed with the closures in the absence of an overall budget deal.
6 comments:
Huh? The feds would take over closed NY State Parks? Sounds good to me. Let the feds pay for them.
The continued audacity shown by the Fed just grows by leaps and bounds.
Give em back to the feds. Its the runaway spending and the unfunded federal mandates like obamacare which are running state budgets into the ground. I think we should call their bluff and send the keys back to he fed. Let them run them. they can't do any worse than NYS did and it would free up more money to pay for the social programs they keep forcing down our throats.
but where will the illegal aliens grow marijuana & play soccer?
you people are so racist.
A LOT of the grants for parks (and airports) from the Feds come with BIG strings attached, like you can't close the park/airport without giving back the Federal $$ - with interest
More than one city has found that one out when protesters demanded the closing of an airport (after building under the existing flightpath) and the city state said "OK" - and then the city/state found out "Oh crap, can't do it because that grant we got 25 or 30 years ago has to be paid back, with interest"
It's not so much that the Feds would say "we're taking the park", nut it's "we're taking the park AND you owe us the money back TOO"
I rather see NYS Adirondack and all other Parks under the State be under Federal jurisdiction as I personally know the State Agencies that run the Parks are rife with political appointees that are mismanaging the agencies and the Parks that are a disservice to all citizens. Not the the Feds can do a better job, it's to get rid of NYS of the thieves currently running the show.
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