DeSoto State Park is consistently one of Alabama’s top 10 state parks, with more than 165,000 visitor occurrences each year. Alabama’s State Park Director Greg Lein hosted an Open House and Listening Session at DeSoto State Park on Feb. 19. About two dozen park supporters attended to learn about the park system and give input about DeSoto State Park.
Mr. Lein began his career in natural resource management as a wildlife biologist.
He is the former assistant director of the Alabama State Lands Division of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and helped manage the Forever Wild Land Trust Program.
Mr. Lein spent much of the discussion focused on the challenges of managing the parks system on a tight budget. While there are many options for increasing revenue – including adding gated entrances, yearly passes, concession agreements, increasing rates – these all come with challenges and no decisions have been made on what avenue to take.
“A common thing I hear is ‘I pay my taxes, why are park rates so high?’” Mr. Lein said. “A recent poll found that 70 percent of Alabamians thought the state parks were funded by state tax dollars. The reality is that our partners really are paying for our parks system through entrance fees, boat and kayak rentals and overnight stays.”
Mr. Lein said most of the park system’s $30 million in revenue each year comes from overnight guests at campground, lodges, cabins and hotels. The parks do receive funding from the Alabama legislature each year, making up about 10 percent of the parks budget. This funding from the state is earmarked for renovations, improvements and crucial maintenance at the parks. The state funds DeSoto State Park received were used for some much-needed repairs from the 2013 tornadoes. The lodge also received a new roof and new refrigerators and microwave ovens were added to the rooms. In December the park also opened a historical pioneer cabin.
Even with limited funds, DeSoto State Park has been able to create excellent interpretive programs and unique conservation projects with the help of its partners. DeSoto offers many lessons about camping, the flora and fauna of the region along with its historical programs.
DeSoto State Park Superintendent Ken Thomas shared details on one successful project at the park – the revival of an endangered pitcher plant species. The pitcher plants require a unique bog environment and with the help of Fort Payne High School students a bog was cleared for a thriving community to develop. Boy Scout Troop 75 has also been instrumental in helping to revive this species. One Eagle Scout project built a bog near the country store as an example for visitors, since the natural bog is deep in the woods. Another Eagle Scout project last summer cleared the land and created a new bog deep on new Forever Wild Land. The parks have been germinating seedlings for the past few months and are working on repopulating these bogs.
These types of projects are only possible with the support of the community that loves these parks.
Mr. Lein said the parks system needs to focus on young people. Citing a Coleman County study, he said, “You are extremely unlikely to ever go outdoors if you have never been camping by the time you are 17. If we want to persist in the future like we have for the past 75 years, we have to reach out to our youth. We’d like to help get more kids active and outdoors.”