VA State Parks to drop dog fee for 2014

[Playtime_II]

As I write this I am pleased to share that in spite of the rain that seemed non-stop through July, we enjoyed record attendance in 2014. We will have the exact number shortly after the start of the New Year, but we are ahead of last year with the partial December numbers entered. Of course we couldn’t do it without you! We made a video slide show to highlight 2013 and I hope you enjoy it: http://youtu.be/tovMGZcICW8.

We hope you will join us for the start of 2014 by participating in a First Day Hike on Jan. 1. All 36 of our parks have a guided or self-guided program planned but feel free to come out to a park and participate in an activity that you are interested in as a way of starting the New Year out with a family friendly activity that promotes a healthy lifestyle. You can find a list of the scheduled activities here: http://bit.ly/2014FDH. We are also holding a First Day Hike photo contest for folks who visit our parks Jan. 1. You can find the details on the contest here: http://bit.ly/FDHcontest. Prizes include a week in one of our family lodges and a week in a cabin. If you don’t come out for a hike, we hope you will help us vote for the best photos starting on Jan. 2 at the same link.

We have had a team working on a website redesign for close to a year now and are pleased to announce that we will be revealing the new site on Wednesday, January 9. To be one of the first to see the new site, join us at 10 a.m. Jan. 9 at http://www.virginiastateparks.gov. We would love your feedback. We just finished up our contest to name our new mascot, the red fox. We will be announcing the winning name in January and you can look forward to seeing our mascot in person at an event beginning this spring.

I know that many of our campers will be happy to hear that effective Jan. 1 we will no longer be charging a fee for dogs in our campgrounds. We are designing a new brochure to remind dog owners of their responsibilities that will be ready for the start of camping season in March 2014.

For cabin customers who like to reserve cabins for less than a week in the summer, we have some good news. While we still require the week stay up to a month before arrival, this year our customers will finally be able to reserve the cabins online for less than a week during that window. As you may know, you previously could only book those shorter stays through the 800 number. The month in advance window opens based on the start date of the reservation. So if you want to arrive July 3, 2014, you could make a reservation for less than a week beginning June 3, 2014. If that day falls on a weekend, the window opens on the following Monday at 9 a.m. We make sure that online customers never have an advantage over folks who choose to book through our Customer Service Center at 800-933-7275.

You may have participated in our site specific survey this year. Unfortunately, it seems that our campers are close to evenly divided on whether they think changing our policy from choose your site on arrival to site specific reservations is a good idea. This makes it difficult for us to make all of our customers happy. Our campground management working group worked on this issue all year and decided to pilot site specific reservations in a percentage of sites at 6 parks beginning in 2015. The parks are: First Landing, Belle Isle, Chippokes Plantation, Douthat, Hungry Mother and Grayson Highlands state parks. Because of our eleven month reservation window, this was the earliest we could make a change. Reservations for these pilot sites will begin in 2014 based on the 11 month rolling window. We will have detailed information on which sites will be included as site specific in the pilot parks prior to April 1, 2014 and will have photos and site details listed online. The rest of the sites in the pilot parks will continue to be reserved in advance with sites selected upon arrival. The pilot will give us the opportunity to work through any operational challenges and help us evaluate the acceptance by our campers.

In order to continue to operate our parks at current levels, we found that it is necessary to increase our prices beginning Jan. 1. We struggle with any fee increase because we recognize that our customers rely on Virginia State Parks for affordable family vacation destinations. However, without additional funds to operate and maintain our facilities, we would be unable to operate at the standards our customers expect. Our daily per car parking fee will increase for many parks $1 to $2. Parks will either be $4 weekday/$5 weekend or $3 weekday/$4 weekend. Our annual parking passes will not increase so passes will be an even better deal for frequent visitors. Cabin fees are increasing 5% and campsites will increase $3 for electric/water or electric/water/sewer sites. Fees for sites without hookups and primitive sites will not increase. We will be introducing a Customer Loyalty Program this year that will help frequent visitors save money. The new fees are on our website: http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state_parks/parkfees.shtml.

Don’t forget that we periodically offer specials on our overnight accommodations. Our “last minute cabin specials” are offered 52 weeks of the year. We discount cabins 25% for the approaching weekend on Thursday and Friday through the Customer Service Center 800-933-7275. We want to encourage occupancy over the weekend, when we have the highest demand. It is sad to see cabins that are canceled at the last minute or were never booked sit unoccupied. So if you can make last minute plans, this is a great way to save money. Other discounts and specials are publicized on our social media sites and in our enewsletter. In addition to our website, the enews is the most reliable way to find out about specials and learn about special events and programs. It is delivered every Thursday morning and our programs and events are listed for the next ten days. If you don’t already subscribe, you can do so here: http://bit.ly/vspenews. We would love to talk to you on our social media sites too. The links appear below my signature if you are reading in html. If not, you can find them on our website http://www.virginiastateparks.gov.

Thank you for continuing to make Virginia State Parks a success. We wish you all a happy and healthy New Year and hope to see you in our parks!


Nancy S. Heltman
State Parks Visitor Services Manager
Department of Conservation and Recreation
600 E. Main Street 24th Floor
Richmond, VA 23219

[portscanner]

wbwood wrote:

Lantley wrote:
Dave my intention was not to offend you. I apologize if you felt my comments offensive.
I agree I was not there so I do not know the source of the pile.
Nevertheless I have personally seen lots dog piles, I have yet to see a bear pile.
But I guess there is always that possibility.

What does a bear pile look like? Seriously, I've never looked to see what it looks like. Now I gotta go and google it. I know what deer droppings look like, but I'm not even sure if I could tell the difference between then a rabbit poop.

Outdoorsmen should recognize the difference between black bear and grizzly bear poop. Black bear poop is smaller and contains lots of berries and squirrel fur. Grizzly bear poop has little bells in it and smells like pepper.

Reference: http://algonquintrips.blogspot.com/2007/01/know-your-bear-poop.html

[wbwood]

Lantley wrote:
Dave my intention was not to offend you. I apologize if you felt my comments offensive.
I agree I was not there so I do not know the source of the pile.
Nevertheless I have personally seen lots dog piles, I have yet to see a bear pile.
But I guess there is always that possibility.

What does a bear pile look like? Seriously, I've never looked to see what it looks like. Now I gotta go and google it. I know what deer droppings look like, but I'm not even sure if I could tell the difference between then a rabbit poop.

[Lantley]

Dave my intention was not to offend you. I apologize if you felt my comments offensive.
I agree I was not there so I do not know the source of the pile.
Nevertheless I have personally seen lots dog piles, I have yet to see a bear pile.
But I guess there is always that possibility.

[Jean_S]

It doesn't take too many bad apples to spoil things for the whole barrel. My grandfather used to own a stretch of woods outside of town. Hobos camped there for years and years, just passing thru or staying to do farm work. They didn't cause any trouble. Whatever rules for behavior they had, they enforced among themselves. Then, the hippy vans started coming. Oil in the creek or on the ground, trash and human waste everywhere, everything not set in concrete growing legs. So, my grandfather ran everyone off and no one was allowed to use the area. I'm sure that only a minority of campers would fail to clean up after their dogs or would dump motor oil into a creek. But, as dog owners and hippies lack whatever social mechanism the hobos had to enforce better behavior, the minority of bad apples are going to ruin it for the rest.

[D___M]

Lantley wrote:

D & M wrote:

Guy Roan wrote:
I am at a state park
Yesterday I was unloading my canoe sliding it off the back of my truck. I stepped back and stepped right onto0 a large dog mess.
People wonder why some of us are against dogs in state parks.

Need I say any more???

Guy

You sure it was a dog? Lots of other critters out there wondering in state parks.

Does a wild bear "walk" in the woods. You betcha.

I'm sure it was a dog. It's that type of denial that results in dog fees and bans. Everyone does not clean up after their dog.
I own a dog and witness the piles regularly.
Pretending all dog owners are 100% compliant just creates more hardship.

Huh? I asked a question of one person and received the answer from another that wasn't there. And in multi colors yet. How bizarre.

I didn't know the amount of familiarity Guy Roan has with scat, but sine neither one of us was there, I thought I might ask. People often blame dog owners when it is not a dog owners fault. No need to get snarky. I wasn't taking a stand either way on dog owners responsibility. You might say that I have no dog in the fight.

[portscanner]

The other day I was unloading my dog and I stepped into a canoe

Unfortunately, unless you own and run the campground, (and do it like a tyrant) there will always be something that you will not like. Use common sense, fix that which you can, and grin and bear the rest.

[Dog_Folks]

On the other side: Pretending all dog owners are 100% non-complaint also just creates more hardship.

It is a continuing problem with no good solution,yet.

[Lantley]

D & M wrote:

Guy Roan wrote:
I am at a state park
Yesterday I was unloading my canoe sliding it off the back of my truck. I stepped back and stepped right onto0 a large dog mess.
People wonder why some of us are against dogs in state parks.

Need I say any more???

Guy

You sure it was a dog? Lots of other critters out there wondering in state parks.

Does a wild bear "walk" in the woods. You betcha.

I'm sure it was a dog. It's that type of denial that results in dog fees and bans. Everyone does not clean up after their dog.
I own a dog and witness the piles regularly.
Pretending all dog owners are 100% compliant just creates more hardship.

[Carb_Cleaner]

Like I said, I try to live and let live. Some people like dogs, some people like motorcycles, some people like red and some people like blue. I don't want to squash anybody's dog buzz. I can see the enjoyment they bring on many levels, but my preference would be they're not around. A bit like someone's preference for not having a rock in their shoe. I may not like what others do, but I don't like being told what to do and I don't want to tell others what they must do. I'll leave you alone if you leave me alone.
Also, part of my point was to defend the fella that was attacked for unloading his canoe and stepping in the gift that keeps on giving (I'm sure they can defend themselves). It's not possible to predict where your foot is going to land 100% of the time. I found that comment condescending, ignorant and rude. So, I interjected my $.02.

[Dog_Folks]

Carb Cleaner wrote:
Yuck it up, funny people.
Bringing your dog is a privledge, not a right.
Having said that, I think 5 bucks a day was rather excessive. I tolerate dogs because I'm sure there are things I do that aggravate others, but I do them anyway. So, I try to live and let live.
However, my preference would be to ban dogs from ANY and ALL public places (service dogs excluded, of course). I'm not alone it that preference, I'm sure, so laugh it up while you can.
Although VA State Park fees are now about what a private CG cost, I'd rather give my hard earned dough to a citizen than the gov't, which was Mr. Small's intent when he lobbied for the law that passed last year, easing his competition burden and giving the gov't another reason to raise fees.

Ban dogs first, then motorcycles.

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
Edmund Burke

[Carb_Cleaner]

Yuck it up, funny people.
Bringing your dog is a privledge, not a right.
Having said that, I think 5 bucks a day was rather excessive. I tolerate dogs because I'm sure there are things I do that aggravate others, but I do them anyway. So, I try to live and let live.
However, my preference would be to ban dogs from ANY and ALL public places (service dogs excluded, of course). I'm not alone it that preference, I'm sure, so laugh it up while you can.
Although VA State Park fees are now about what a private CG cost, I'd rather give my hard earned dough to a citizen than the gov't, which was Mr. Small's intent when he lobbied for the law that passed last year, easing his competition burden and giving the gov't another reason to raise fees.

[OhBlackWater]

Sounds like canoes should be banned and this won't happen again.

[wbwood]

Guy Roan wrote:
I am at a state park
Yesterday I was unloading my canoe sliding it off the back of my truck. I stepped back and stepped right onto0 a large dog mess.
People wonder why some of us are against dogs in state parks.

Need I say any more???

Guy

I've seen kids make a mess of a bathhouse and throw trash and other disgusting things on the ground while camping. Their irresponsible parents didn't clean up after them. Guess all kids should be banned also.

[kab449]

I have already set up on a campsite where the people that occupied it before me were bigger slobs than any animal.