concern with proposed Pennsylvania legislation
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Topic created by Nancy on Tue Jun 28, 2016 at 6:32 amOne of our members brought to my attention to proposed bills that concern me, an outdoors person and frequent visitor to our state parks.House Bill 2013 would establish a public-private state park partnership board to solicit and vet proposals from private developers interested in developing facilities in state parks. The board, for all intents and purposes, transfers decision-making authority from the trained professionals at the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to the new board, which would consist of members appointed by the General Assembly.The bill further expands the types of activities that would be permitted in state parks, including office buildings, hotels, water parks, amusement parks, restaurants, and golf courses. New development accepted by the board could be funded through taxpayer dollars, draining an already small capital budget for improvements in your state parks.The bill passed through the rules committee on Monday 33-0.Another bill, HB 2188, calls for development of golf courses in four state parks to honor Arnold Palmer.To learn more, you can visit the website of the Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation.I personally don't believe that either of these bills are in the best interest of our sport nor do they demonstrate good stewardship of the natural resources held by the state for the common usage of its citizens.If these bills trouble you as they do me, I encourage you to contact your local state representative. I've already written to mine as well as to the governor.
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Reply by edscott on Thu Jun 30, 2016 at 6:11 pmI contacted Mark Gillen our Rep that covers most of southern Berks and a small bit of Lancaster Co. He answered quickly and agrees with us. He is pro environment and shares our point of view on most all issues.
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Reply by furlong47 on Fri Jul 1, 2016 at 0:14 amThe House voted on this on Tuesday. It did not pass (77-123)
