Louisiana state parks face low staffing, $42 million backlog of repairs

Louisiana’s state park system is facing a staffing and maintenance crisis, a state audit revealed, owing to decreased state funds and declining visitations after recent devastating hurricanes.

The Louisiana Legislative Auditor released its third audit in a series looking at the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, which is headed by the state’s lieutenant governor. The third audit specifically looks at the Office of State Parks, which oversees 21 parks and 16 historic sites across the state.

The audit found that the office has seen a significant decline in its staffing levels in the past several years, as well as a backlog of repair and maintenance issues brought on by a steady decrease in state funding. The Office of State Parks also saw declines in its self-generated revenues as a result of multiple hurricanes — especially Hurricanes Laura and Ida, which devastated the western and eastern parts of the state roughly a year apart.

“As indicated in the report, OSP has operated for several years with a lack of sufficient funding and staffing,” wrote Office of State Parks Assistant Secretary Brandon Burris in his response to the audit. “More recently, OSP has faced several additional challenges, including extended closures to multiple parks due to damages caused by several hurricanes, while simultaneously providing quality services to an increased number of visitors looking for outdoor activities as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Here’s what the audit found:

Louisiana’s state parks have half the employees they did 15 years ago

In fiscal year 2008, the Office of State Parks had about 535 full-time employees, the audit showed. By fiscal year 2022, that number dropped to 261 — its lowest level in at least 16 years and a decline of more than half since 2008.

Between fiscal years 2008 and 2014, the number of employees slowly, though steadily, declined to 454, a drop of about 15.1% in the seven-year period. In fiscal year 2015, OSP saw a sharp decline to 307 full-time workers, a drop of 32.4% from the previous year.

The audit said that OSP officials said the agency could no longer afford to employ seasonal workers who worked 40-hour weeks due to the Affordable Care Act’s benefit requirement.

The number of workers would rise slightly to 316 in fiscal year 2016, but it would generally decline in the next several years, falling by 17.4% between 2016 and 2022.

“According to OSP, the decrease in positions has required administrators and park staffers to consolidate or develop alternative methods of operating in order to maintain services to the public,” the audit said.

The audit said that, in addition to the low staffing levels, the office has had to cut some integral positions, such as park rangers and interpretive rangers. The park rangers have the same duties as police officers and enforce OSP rules at parks. Those positions have been cut from 26 in 2016 to 17 in 2022.

Interpretive rangers handle the natural, cultural and historical aspects of the state parks. These positions have fallen from 26 in 2016 to 22 in 2022. The audit said that the legislature did approve eight new positions and about $500,000 in additional funding for park rangers for fiscal year 2024.

To handle the low staffing levels the past few years, OSP has been cross-training park employees and loaning staff from one park to another. The office also has relied more on part-time workers. Between 2016 and 2022, the number of part-time positions increased by 80.4%.

“OSP has difficulty recruiting new employees post-COVID-19 due to a smaller pool of candidates and higher salary demands,” the audit said.

Louisiana’s park system has seen declining appropriations, leading to backlog of needed repairs

On average, the Office of State Parks had an annual budget of about $30.9 million between fiscal years 2016 and 2022, the audit said. The bulk of the office’s funds come from the state general fund and self-generated revenues or fees, which come from the Louisiana State Parks Improvement and Repair Dedicated Fund Account. That fund is also called the 729 Fund.

In the past several years, as the state has given less general fund money to the state park system, OSP has had to use the 729 Fund to maintain park operations, rather than needed repairs and improvements, the audit found.

In fiscal year 2022, about 48% of the office’s funding came from the state general fund, while 48.4% came from the 729 Fund. About 3.6% of the money came from federal funds or interagency transfers.

The steady decline in general fund appropriations goes back to 2010, the audit said.

“Since fiscal year 2010, the legislature has given OSP fewer state general fund dollars, so OSP has had to rely on 729 dollars to make up the difference,” the audit said.

Before 2010, OSP used the 729 Fund as state law required: spending 50% of the revenues of each park on that park’s improvement and repair needs. Staff would determine what repairs and improvements they could fund each year based on the 729 Fund.

But the decline in general fund appropriations has changed how the office views the fund. Between 2016 and 2022, the general fund appropriation fell by 12.9%, from $19.4 million to $16.9 million. Now, the agency subtracts the operational costs not covered by the general fund allocation from the 729 Fund before determining which projects it can pay for. Because of that, the office has less money for the repairs and improvements.

As of March 2023, OSP has a repair and improvement list totaling about $14 million, but the department says the list only includes projects that could realistically be completed with the current funding levels, rather than the actual amount needed to keep the parks and sites operating at expected service levels.

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In order to keep the parks running as expected, the amount needed for improvements is about $42 million — roughly three times the amount the office can fund currently.

The audit said the list of needed improvements includes things like aging facilities and infrastructure that need to be replaced, but the agency cannot afford it. One example is in Bayou Segnette State Park in Jefferson Parish, known for its wetlands.

The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development has condemned three bridges in the park. OSP had to close one entrance to the park as a result. Replacing the three bridges would cost more than $1 million.

Devastation from hurricanes offset gains from COVID-19

Nationwide, the COVID-19 pandemic presented an opportunity for state parks. With indoor events widely restricted or presenting increased risks of infection, state parks saw an increase in visitation as more people opted for outdoor gatherings.

Louisiana’s state parks saw visitation jump from 2020 to 2021, and it saw revenues rise 42.9% between 2016 and 2022 due to short-term revenues, such as COVID-19 funds. But Louisiana also suffered from multiple severe hurricanes in recent years, many of which damaged or closed state parks.

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Hurricane Laura, which hit the western part of the state in August 2020, and Hurricane Ida, which slammed the eastern part of the state roughly a year later, were particularly hard on the system.

The jump from 2020 to 2021 was also due in part to low visitation in 2020. All state parks and historic sites were closed from March 24 through May 14, 2020. Three state parks — Chicot State Park near Ville Platte, Lake Bistineau State Park in Webster Parish and Bayou Segnette State Park — remained closed longer to house COVID-19-positive patients.

From 2019 to 2020, visitation across all parks fell by 18.5% from about 1.44 million to 1.17 million. In 2021, visitation rose by 25.4% to 1.47 million. Compared to 2019, the visitation in 2021 was up about 2.2%.

In 2022, visitation was around 1.27 million — a drop of 13.5% from 2021.

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This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Louisiana state park system faces low staffing levels, lack of funds