Fourth of July fireworks
2008 Cityfolk Festival
Spotted at the Cityfolk Festival
More Ohioans stayed closer to home, used state parks in 2007
Sunday, January 13, 2008
The way Dan West looks at it, 2007 was a good year for Ohio's state parks. The parks had an increased number of visitors and revenue gains from several sources.
West, a native of the Springfield area and 1974 Northeastern High School graduate, is chief of the Ohio Division of Parks. He pointed to 50.4 million visitor occasions (some people visit more than once) at the state's 74 parks in '07, up 2 percent from '06, and increased revenue from campgrounds, up 5 percent from '06, as positives and something to build on for 2008.
Extras
In a recent conversation, West looked back at last year and ahead for 2008. Here are the highlights of that conversation:
Q Has the rising price of gasoline been good or bad for Ohio State Parks?
A Our studies have shown that people are staying closer to home these days, and it's probably due to gasoline prices. In some cases, we've seen people are taking even more trips than before, but they've been shorter.
And instead of going someplace for a week or more, they are going to state parks and staying a couple of nights in our campgrounds and get-away rentals (cedar cabins, rent-an-RV, camper cabins, Conestogas, rent-a-camps and cabents). People might not be able to afford a cottage or a lodge room, so they have made these hot sellers.
Q How about the resorts and cottages? Did they also show increases?
A They were pretty much flat. But that's not bad, because other states have shown declines in that area. We stayed pretty much the same.
Q What are you doing to encourage the day-use of the parks?
A We have been trying to tie the state parks into area historical and cultural events. If an area has an event taking place, we try to be involved.
Also, parks that offer hiking, biking, fishing and hunting have done quite well.
Also, last year we saw a resurgence in the number of people using our beaches. It shows people still want close-to-home, affordable day-use places to go.
Q Considering the great walleye and perch fishing last year, how did your Lake Erie parks do?
A Parks that offer fishing and hunting always play well. Our Lake Erie parks did very well on both sides of the coast. And camping at our island parks was up.
Q Funding for parks has always been a problem. How's it look for 2008?
A It's going to be a tight budget year, given the signals we've been getting from the governor's office. We should be able to live with what we were given last year, but we are telling all our managers and employees that if anything changes, it could be difficult. We read the same stories about the economy that everyone else is reading.
Our revenues were up some last year, so we hope that continues. Even our marina revenues (dock rentals, etc.) were higher.
If things stay the way they are now, even with gas prices up, we look for a pretty good year. People are staying closer to home, and that's always good for state parks because people look for convenience and ways to relieve some stress ... and we certainly have those places.
Q Speaking of marinas, do you think there will be anything happening with the proposed Caesar Creek marina in 2008?
A I do. Of course a lot depends on the economy, but there has been interest shown. Whoever gets it will have to come up with up-front costs and defer profit for a couple of years to pay off the investment. We want to see this work, but I have a strong feeling the economy will play a part.
Caesar Creek is a very popular lake and it would be the only marina there, so we're hoping it will come through.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2409 or jmorris@DaytonDailyNews.com.
