No charge Michigan State Park DNR passes in 2007
| Browsing the MMBA.org site, I came accross a story about the DNR parking passes. It is my understanding that the state law that allows the DNR to charge for parking passes ends this year. Without that law and not being able to profit from the passes, they will be in definate finacial trouble. Then where will we ride? |
Free parking in ‘07? Not such a good thing. |
Under current state law, the DNR cannot sell park passes (a.k.a. motor vehicle permits) starting January 1st, 2007. This provides a significant portion (over $13 million) of the DNR Parks budget and they cannot keep all the parks open without this funding. The MMBA is working with Senator Michelle McManus to get a bill passed this year that would extend the 2007 deadline to 2010.
Senator McManus’s SB 924 passed out of committee yesterday and is heading to the Senate floor. Today we’ll send an MMBA letter of support and a “please rush” message to the Senate leadership. Feel free to contact your own Senator and do the same.
This bill also allows the DNR Director and Parks Chief to waive entry fee requirements for some events. This could be done for stewardship events (e.g. MMBA trail days) where the benefit to the park outweighs the lost revenue.
