State park boosters worry about Scott Walker's fees-only stance

The private fundraising group that supports the Wisconsin parks system said rising admissions and camping fees and deteriorating park facilities could drive people away from the state’s popular outdoor recreational properties if elected officials don’t restore tax support they stripped from the system two years ago.

It’s been troubling to hear increasing complaints from park visitors about upkeep of trails and maintenance of park buildings, said Bill Zager, president of Friends of Wisconsin State Parks, an umbrella group for hundreds of volunteers at more than 80 recreation sites.

“If park users have a good experience, they are going to have fun and they are going to come back, but if they don’t have fun, they may not be back,” Zager said Tuesday, a day before Walker was to unveil his first state budget proposal since all tax support was withdrawn from the parks two years ago.

The parks system now faces an annual $1.4 million budget hole and an array of options for further fee increases like the ones Walker and the Legislature approved in the 2015-17 budget.

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