Missouri’s is a premier park system.
No doubt about that.
Landowners who have made generous donations for parks such as Roaring River and taxpayers who have four times endorsed a statewide sales tax to build and support that system have made it so.
Unfortunately, that’s not enough. Not anymore.
Sales tax revenue has dropped dramatically at a time when visitation is up because Missourians are turning to their parks for inexpensive vacations. And even before the downturn, state parks and historic sites faced a $200 million backlog of infrastructure repair and upgrades that is now only going to get worse.
The Missouri Parks Association is pushing legislators for a $700 million to $1 billion bond issue for capital improvement projects around the state, with 10 percent of that for state parks. Susan Flader, president of the group, makes a case every bit as compelling as the scenery at Ha Ha Tonka.
Some may think it’s better to wait for the good times, for the economic rebound, but the achievements of our ancestors during The Great Depression is the antidote to that argument.
Besides, the good times won’t come around until we make it happen.
