AUSTIN, Texas – Wildfires caused as much as $11 million in damage to Texas state parks and, coupled with the worst single-year drought in state history, continue to drive down the parks’ visitation rates, a top official told state lawmakers Tuesday.
Carter Smith, executive director of Texas Parks and Wildlife, reported to members of the Texas House Culture, Recreation and Tourism committee that the parks have seen an 8.4 percent decline in revenue from visitors in the first quarter of the 2012 fiscal year, which began Sept. 1. He said that represents $928,000 in losses, which are especially costly because 55 percent of total park funding comes from visitor-generated revenue.
State park officials had announced last month that fewer visitors already had resulted in a $4.6 million funding deficit for fiscal year 2011.
Smith said the number of visitors in August alone fell by a quarter. He said some of Texas’ most popular parks with water attractions saw declines of nearly 55 percent in visitation revenue rates.
“These oppressive summer temperatures, no water in rivers and lakes, burn bans … all of those things conspire to keep people inside as opposed to going outside,” Smith said.
Texas’ 94 state parks and historic sites, which average
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