Alabama state parks slated for closing get reprieve

State parks threatened with closing on May 1 will get a reprieve.

Greg Lein, the director of the State Parks Division in the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, said in a statement Wednesday that Gov. Robert Bentley's office had instructed him to delay the closings of four state parks and two golf courses.

"We have received a tremendous amount of support from the public," the statement said. "In addition, the Governor's office and the Legislature have received an outcry for our parks to stay open and for them to receive full funding."

Lein's statement also cited "discussions that are taking place" over the budget, and urged park supporters to continue contacting legislators. Last week, the state parks division warned it would close the parks by May 1 due to budget issues.

The state's park system gets funding from the state's troubled General Fund budget, but also generates money through park and other user fees.

"As this whole thing has come about, our cash balance is over $1 million," Lein said in a phone interview Wednesday morning. "Each month, it costs $1 million to employ our personnel."

Under a draft proposal of the General Fund budget, the park system was expected to lose about $10.4 million in state funding, which Lein said would require the closing of certain parks to ensure the department's solvency.

"We identified areas of our system that typically lose money and do not break even over the summer, and that's what we planned to shut down," said.

The parks targeted were Bladon Springs in Choctaw County; Chickasaw in Marengo; Buck's Pocket, north of Guntersville and Paul M. Grist in Dallas County. The two golf courses targeted for closing were Lakepoint in Eufala and Roland Cooper in Camden.

The system may not be fully out of the woods. In a memo sent to legislators Tuesday, Bentley warned a General Fund budget with no new revenues would force the closings of 15 of the state's 22 parks and require increased fees at the surviving facilities.