Should Hoeft State Park be privatized?

?Over my dead body,? was how Harry Whiteley, of Rogers City, characterized the suggestion by the former director of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, Russ Harding, to sell off Hoeft State Park along with 13 other parks. Whiteley?s grandfather, Paul H. Hoeft, donated the 316 acres, including nearly a mile of pristine Lake Huron shoreline, to create the state park. Whiteley is currently researching the history of that donation because he believes it included a restriction that it be granted for public use in perpetuity. ?The suggestion to sell these parks is simply ridiculous and I went down to Lansing this week to make that clear to my friends in the DNR,? Whiteley said.

Whiteley served an unprecedented six terms as the chairman of the Michigan Natural Resources Commission, the body that oversees the scope and direction of the DNR. Harding has caused quite a stir around the state because of a recent proposal he floated in the Michigan Privatization Report calling for the privatization of 14 state parks. He argues that some of the state?s parks should be auctioned off to the highest bidder, noting that the state would realize a substantial windfall from the sale of these properties that could help alleviate Michigan?s structural deficit.

Harding contends that the original intent of lawmakers was not to set aside state parks merely as an alternative to outdoor recreation opportunities already provided by the private sector. He goes on to say that many state parks are ?not unique in either their natural resources or their historic value.?

MICHIGAN PARKS began in 1919. Today there are 97 parks encompassing 280,000 acres with an operating budget of $38 million per year. The parks attract more than 25 million visitors annually, many of whom come to the state specifically to enjoy our parks and other recreation facilities. The proposal to close 14 parks would, coincidentally, bring the number down to the same number of counties in the state. Along with Hoeft State Park, Harding also recommends selling Interlochen State Park near Traverse City. Interlochen and D.H. Day were the first two parks acquired by the state parks commission in 1919. The Lansing State Journal questioned why Hoeft and Interlochen would have made the list.

?Those are gems. It?s hard to see a sound rationale for selling those high-quality, public treasures,? the Journal wrote. Another downstate newspaper, the Jackson Citizen Patriot, also questioned selling Hoeft State Park. ?Must a park be unique to be preserved? Isn?t public recreation a worthy end in itself? In a state that depends on tourism, some closures would have disproportionate impact. For example, Hoeft State Park just outside Rogers City would be a hard economic blow to that already-struggling Lake Huron community,? the Citizen Patriot wrote.

ALL OVER the state, people have raised their voices in opposition to the plan. One opinion poll registered 94.4 percent of the respondents against the proposal. The DNR says there are no plans at this time to sell off state park land, but a citizen?s committee is assessing

the park system as a whole to determine how the system can be made more efficient and stimulate revenues that would make it self-sufficient. Ron Olson, chief of parks and recreation for the DNR, said the department is working with the committee to see how to improve the park system, not downsize it. ?However, selling some state parks is not out of the question,? Olson told the Clare County Review last month.

In addition to 280,000 acres of state parks and recreation areas, the DNR manages 300,000 acres of wildlife preserves, and 45,000 acres of water access sites. Overall, the DNR owns 4.5 million acres of land.

Much of the state?s mining, timber, and energy development takes place on public land, as does a large portion of fishing, hunting, and sporting activities. The DNR estimates these lands support 400,000 jobs and contribute more than $13 billion to Michigan?s economy each year.