Roads deal could 'gut' Idaho recreation

About half the money spent each year on trails, boating facilities and snowmobile grooming in Idaho could be gone next year unless a task force persuades lawmakers and the governor to change how they fund recreation.

The Department of Parks and Recreation gets 3 percent of the state's gas tax money - worth about $4.7 million in 2009 - to help pay for amenities used by motorized and nonmotorized recreationists.

That money will dry up July 1, 2010, because legislation passed in the final days of the 2009 session reallocates Parks and Recreation's share of the gas tax to highways.

"That would gut recreation in Idaho as we know it today," said Sandra Mitchell of the Idaho Recreation Council, an advocacy group for motorized recreationists, cyclists and horsemen.

A state legislative task force will have its first meeting June 30 to identify alternative funding sources for programs currently paid for by gas taxes.

"People need to realize no money has been taken from Parks and Recreation yet," task force member Raul Labrador, R- Eagle, said.

The task force could propose legislation in the 2010 session. But it has few options.

It can try to restore the 3 percentfunding allocation, pay for recreation programs using other state revenue, or generate new revenue from new fees or taxes.

Labrador said the new law that shifts Idaho State Police and recreation money to highways was not intended as a long-term solution. It was part of a compromise to give Gov. Butch Otter some of the transportation funding he sought during the 2009 legislative session.

"Everyone understood this would not be the final agreement," Labrador said.

Mitchell said $4.7 million is a fraction of the highway budget, but it is critical funding for trails and waterways, which bring millions of dollars to rural areas and add to the quality of life in Idaho.

"Are we really ready to sacrifice all that?" she said.

Parks and Recreation awarded grants in 34 counties this year for things like boat docks at Lucky Peak Reservoir, maintenance of the popular Danskin motorcycle trails east of Boise, and the purchase of a mini excavator to build trails in the Payette National Forest.

Gas taxes have been essential to the state's snowmobiling program, which grooms trails throughout the state. Unlike waterways and motorcycle and ATV trails, snowmobile trails require money every winter.

"If you don't have grooming, you don't have snowmobiling in Idaho," said Dave Claycomb, off-highway vehicle program manager for Parks and Recreation.

Roger Phillips: 373-6615