KBIA Local
(2010-03-17)
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COLUMBIA, MO
(KBIA) -
Missouri State Parks face significant challenges - from removing wild pig populations to budget cuts these things make it hard to look to other goals like simply getting more Missourians to visit the 85 State Parks that cover about 200,000 acres.
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The Osage Group of the Sierra Club hosted a meeting to talk about the controversies and challenges surrounding State Parks in Missouri. Parks director Bill Bryan discussed a variety of facing Parks including funding, harm to bat populations statewide and wild pigs that threaten the natural ecosystems present in the park system. Perhaps the most significant threat of the three is funding. Currently the park system gets 1/8 of 1 percent of the sales tax - that averages to roughly 6 dollars per Missourian - but Bryan says that's not enough. When people are buying less, compounded with the rising costs maintaining the parks- it is a challenge Bryan, says to keep the parks in a good condition.
"Then we also have threats that are not just to our natural resources but to the system as a whole. Funding experiencing a shortfall just like all Missourians are experiencing and that's a treat to our park system as well.
According to the State Parks Academy the number one threat to parks is exotics or things that are not native to the parks. Exotics include wild hogs that are destroying some park land In a recent survey, roughly half of the state's parks cited wild pigs as a significant threat. A number of those who attended last night's meeting wanted to learn more about the status of the park system. Susan Flader (Flaa Dur) is a professor in environmental history at MU as well as has been a member of the Sierra Club since 1964. She says"State park system represents the best of Missouri natural areas and historical sites, the best of cultural heritage, it represents who we are as Missourians, and it also allows for education about those values and recreation that's appropriate to those parks."
Flader says it's critical people understand the park service is an agency of government that is highly popular with Missourians and is in deep economic difficulty. Bryan says one plan the Park system is working on is increasing the number of young people who visit the parks. He presented a plan that would involve hiring 1000 17-24 year-olds this summer to work on many park projects statewide. © Copyright 2012, KBIA
