Press Release
November 01, 2011
Peter Brancato
Dan Keefe
518-486-1868
Testimony Before NYS Assembly Tourism, Parks, Arts and Sports Development Committee
Testimony Before NYS Assembly Tourism, Parks, Arts and Sports Development Committee
New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation Commissioner Rose Harvey
November 1, 2011
Thank you, Chairwoman Markey, and members of the Tourism, Parks, Arts and Sports Development Committee, for inviting me here today to discuss our New York State park system, and the agency's role in supporting New York's tourism industry. As Commissioner of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, I am charged with overseeing one of our state's greatest treasures - the 126-year-old New York State park system. Since the 1885 creation of Niagara Reservation State Park - the oldest state park in the nation - the system has grown to 213 state Parks and Historic Sites encompassing 330,000 acres of protected lands and waters. Widely regarded as the finest in the nation, our New York State park system attracts tens of millions of visitors annually.
Since my appointment by Governor Cuomo in January, I have been traveling throughout our system to better understand park and historic site needs. I continue to be impressed by the diversity and scale of our park system. We have more parks than any other state park system in the nation, and the most developed system, and we're the fourth-largest and second-most visited park system in the nation.
Our state park system is critical to our state's prosperity and well-being. For a relatively small agency, State Parks has an outsized impact on New York's economic development. Last year, 57 million people visited our 213 state parks and historic sites. Niagara Falls State Park alone attracts more visitors than Yellowstone and Yosemite National Parks combined. Park visitors have a significant impact on New York's economy and jobs.
A 2009 study by the Political Economy Research Institute of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst found that spending by New York State Parks and its visitors support 20,000 private-sector jobs (in addition to State Parks jobs), with an average compensation of about $50,000 a year. On a statewide basis, direct spending by the Office of Parks on park maintenance and capital improvements, and spending by visitors to state parks, supports up to $1.9 billion in output and sales. About 40 percent of the total is by people coming from outside the community to visit a park, and spending on transportation, lodging, groceries, restaurants, and other shopping. One-quarter of the people who stay at our campgrounds visit from out-of-state.
New York is open for business - and State Parks are a great place to do business. We have roughly 100 concession contracts with private business - everything from resort hotels to snack bars and the Maid of the Mist to kayak rental concessions. These businesses alone generate nearly $90 million in gross receipts annually, of which almost $10 million is returned directly to the agency to support park operations.
Our parks host major events, such as concerts, festivals and golf tournaments, which provide an economic boost to local economies. Bethpage State Park, for example, has twice hosted the U.S. Open Golf Championship and will host the PGA Tour's Barclay's tournament next year.
Yet the park system has its challenges. Consistent with many other state agencies, the Office of parks is rethinking its operations to provide the best service to our patrons at least cost. As a result of my visits to the parks and robust discussions with senior staff, we are focused on three main priorities to maintain the quality of park system, deliver a critical service to the people of New York, and contribute to the economic revitalization of New York.
Going into the summer season, our first goal was to keep open all parks and historic sites and maintain the quality of service with limited staffing and resources. Governor Cuomo made it clear that we need to keep all the parks open, particularly for those working class families where our parks are the only affordable alternative. I'm proud to say we've accomplished this goal. Despite some very uncooperative weather, we've had a successful season in 2011. We had another successful Memorial Day Air Show at Jones Beach State Park, opened a new and much needed $20 million aquatic facility at Roberto Clemente State Park in the Bronx; celebrated the millionth visitor to the new Walkway Over the Hudson State Historic Park in Poughkeepsie, extended our hours at swimming beaches across the state during the July heat wave, and kept our patrons and staff safe during Tropical Storms Irene and Lee.
We've done this - and will continue to do this - by focusing on our core values, maximizing efficiency, and leveraging our limited resources. Efficiency measures we implemented this past season included satellite park management, more partnerships with local governments, "controlled nature," roving park maintenance, concessionaire-operated golf courses, and automation. We've learned a lot about how to do more with less this season, and we will continue to build on the experience.
We're also bringing more focus to the agency. Our parks can no longer be all things to all people. During the off-season, our regional directors and park managers are going to focus on the core values that define what's important about each park and we will align our future management to these core values. We've also set up a "blue ribbon" committee to review a new strategic plan by the State Historic Preservation Office to enhance the management of our 35 state historic sites. We will continue to look for ways to strengthen the work of our non-profit Friends Groups and partnerships with local governments to help operate parks that have mostly local visitation or are passive in nature.
Our second goal is to increase the quality and quantity of satisfied visitors—so we are number one most-visited and appreciated parks system in the country. To begin with, we must keep fees for core services affordable in these difficult times, particularly to underserved communities who cannot afford more. And we need to increase transportation access and physical access, such as trails and connectors to our own and local parks. We will create a strong brand to promote and celebrate our parks and historic sites, including uniforms, customer service training, marketing materials handed out at parks, and website improvements. We will soon have available a mobile app so smartphone users can more easily access information about our parks.Leveraging our limited resources with local government partnerships, Friends Groups and volunteers is a very high priority. We can supply the land, the buildings, the infrastructure, and many services, but we are looking to working with partners to provide more and a deeper level of programs and use opportunities—again, in keeping with the core value and purposes of each and every park. Simple policy changes such as providing access to different user groups - such as kayakers and canoeists - who've had limited access will help more patrons enjoy the park.
Our third goal is to fix the aging infrastructure and build a 21st century green and sustainable park system. We need to restore, rehabilitate, and improve the strong, stable, and visionary park system we inherited from the likes of Frederick Law Olmsted and Robert Moses. In 1883, Olmsted convinced the State to pass legislation to purchase the Niagara Reservation, which became the nation's first state park. Then in the 1920's, the State and Robert Moses picked up the mantle and completed, funded, and built out one of the most ambitious and visionary state park plans in the country. A system designed to be easily accessible to New York residents and visitors and offer them unprecedented recreational, historic and nature experiences in the likes of Jones Beach, Palisades State Park, Letchworth, Allegany, Olana and, last but not least, Riverbank and Roberto Clemente. As the oldest and most developed park system in the country, New York has significant infrastructure challenges that must be addressed. This year we have identified resources that begin to address our priority capital needs. For example, better than budgeted revenues in parks allowed us to spend an additional $7 million on equipment and capital projects this fiscal year. We've also freed up $5 million of previous federal Transportation Enhancements funds, granted to the agency but which were never spent, to advance park and historic site improvements. We will continue to work on raising private dollars for parks and partnering on capital projects with sister agencies and our friends groups. We are also prioritizing our needs and designing long-term improvements, so that we will be "shovel ready" when the economy improves and additional capital funds are available.
Thank you again for your interest in our state park system. As always, I am truly appreciative for the tremendous support that members of the Legislature have provided to our agency and I welcome any questions.