Here in the Willamatte valley of Oregon we have good camping weather well into fall and sometimes beyond. Oregon state parks are extremely popular in the fall with it being a challenge to find a spot. Despite data from their own web site proving this Oregon State Parks refuses to keep parks or loops open longer thus turning away revenue and camping opportunities to all. Milo Mciver campground closes October 31 yet reservation data shows high interest. Champoeg state campground closes A loop though usage is shown to be high through October. They just do not care. Very frustrating

Have you contacted anyone in charge to voice you thoughts?

The contact links on the OSP web page are aparently not working. I just wrote a letter to mail. Makes no sense to me.

Don't know about Oregon but in most states money is lost every day state parks are open, so states in the colder climates can't wait to close them.

What does your legislative representation say about the issue?

Oasisbob wrote:Here in the Willamatte valley of Oregon we have good camping weather well into fall and sometimes beyond. Oregon state parks are extremely popular in the fall with it being a challenge to find a spot. Despite data from their own web site proving this Oregon State Parks refuses to keep parks or loops open longer thus turning away revenue and camping opportunities to all. Milo Mciver campground closes October 31 yet reservation data shows high interest. Champoeg state campground closes A loop though usage is shown to be high through October. They just do not care. Very frustratingMany Michigan State parks do the same.I doubt it's as simple as turning away revenue. Much of the park labor is contracted minimum wage grunts. They get paid for part time labor, no benefits. The contract length is controlled outside of the park. Many are students who return to school in the fall.Extending those contracts would probably be something that had to happen system wide rather than per park. Running the park with only the remaining full time employees means closing loops to avoid stretching human resources too thin.That's my theory at least.

OREGON STATE PARKS RANT | Good Sam Community

nickthehunter
Nomad II
Sep 05, 2019
Oasisbob wrote:
Here in the Willamatte valley of Oregon we have good camping weather well into fall and sometimes beyond. Oregon state parks are extremely popular in the fall with it being a challenge to find a spot. Despite data from their own web site proving this Oregon State Parks refuses to keep parks or loops open longer thus turning away revenue and camping opportunities to all. Milo Mciver campground closes October 31 yet reservation data shows high interest. Champoeg state campground closes A loop though usage is shown to be high through October. They just do not care. Very frustrating
What did you conclude after you made the same Rant last year? RANT Even used the same All Caps title for the thread. Did you think the answers would be different?
rhagfo
Explorer III
Sep 05, 2019
RedRollingRoadblock wrote:
rhagfo wrote:

That is interesting, here in Oregon we are still opening new parks both East and West side of the Cascades.
OPRD has a good funding system that gets very little money from the general fund. Main sources are User Fees, RV registration Fees (60% goes to parks), and a share of Lottery dollars.

No exactly.

2011-13: $181.5M

2013-15: $189.6M

2015-17 (budgeted): $201.9M

2017-19 request: $219.5M

Money comes from: Oregon Lottery (47 percent), visitor fees / RV fees (47 percent), federal grants (6 percent)

https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/2017/03/17/crowds-rise-oregons-state-parks-seek-more-rangers-money-improvements/99317724/

Looking at that article, just what I stated less the 6% federal grants. The most important statement in the article is that the funding is stable!
RedRollingRoadb
Explorer
Sep 05, 2019
It appears that you said the parks get "very little money from the general fund."

In fact it gets NONE from the general fund. The General Fund isn't Federal grants.
dedmiston
Moderator
Sep 05, 2019
This got ugly. Thread closed.

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