This Land, Your Land

A News & Observer/Charlotte Observer report Sunday takes a look at how North Carolina's state parks are dealing with tight budgets in the faltering economy.

"Litter won't always be picked up as quickly. Maintenance projects are being deferred, and fewer seasonal workers are being hired," the report says.

State parks in 2009-'10 and in 2008-'09 got by with more than $5 million less than what the 2007-'08 budget provided.

Park funding is tied most directly to the economy through the N.C. Parks and Recreation Trust Fund, which receives its money from a deed-transfer tax of $2 per $1,000 in value collected on real estate transactions, The N&O explains. The system also receives money from the state legislature and from user fees.

The park system usually hires about 700 seasonal employees each summer, but will hire fewer than 400 this year. There are nearly 70 full-time vacancies.

The system saw a record 14.2 million visits in 2009, a 13 percent increase over 2008, and expects a similar number of visitors this year.

Still, "North Carolina trails nearly all other states in park spending per resident. According to the National Association of State Park Directors, North Carolina spent $4.18 per person on parks in 2008, ranking 45th nationally. Delaware was No. 1, spending $26.50 per person; Texas was last, at $3.58."

They're not all "natural," and by our count there are actually 11, but everyone enjoys a Top 10 list and they're all part of public recreation lands, so here are "North Carolina's Top 10 Natural Wonders" as determined by Land for Tomorrow:

* Blue Ridge Parkway
* Cape Hatteras and Cape Lookout
* Grandfather Mountain
* Great Smoky Mountains
* Lake Mattamuskeet
* Lumber River
* Merchants Millpond State Park
* Mountains to Sea Trail
* New River
* Ocracoke Island

Land for Tomorrow, a lobby that promotes the state’s conservation trust funds, asked the public to nominate any landscape, natural feature, wildlife or plant life that is unique to North Carolina and should be considered among the state’s greatest natural wonders.

About 200 potential natural wonders were narrowed to a field of 25 semifinalists by a panel of prominent North Carolinians, which included folks a diverse as Gov. Jim Holshouser, Tift Merritt and Eric Montross. From those 25, 10 were determined in a popular vote with "over 3,000 individual votes submitted."

The Flintlock Valley Shooting Range in the Uwharrie National Forest will close for as long as a year as the Forest Service evaluates its safety after "recent incidents near the range have impacted forest visitors who were recreating in the area," the U.S. Forest Service said today.

A news release called the move "a temporary emergency closure ... while the agency evaluates the range’s future management."

The Flintlock Valley Shooting Range, off of Forest Road 576 in the Badin Lake Area, has two shelters with shooting benches. The rifle range is 100 yards and the pistol range is 50 yards.

The shooting range has been open since 1996, averaging 1,000 visitors per month, according to the Forest Service.

Users who have bought annual passes to the range can contact the Uwharrie National Forest at 910-576-6391 to learn how to obtain a refund.

Get a look at what's likely to be in store for Chimney Rock State park when the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation holds a public planning session May 26 at the Lake Lure Town Hall.

Folks can drop in any time from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. to see proposed design alternatives for the state park, a division news release says, and ask questions and offer comments to officials of the state parks system and Greenways Inc.

Greenways Inc., a Durham-based environmental planning and landscape architecture firm, is completing the plan. Beginning May 26, the design proposals will be available at www.greenways.com/chimneyrock.

"A state park’s master plan is essentially a blueprint for long-term development of facilities and recreation opportunities and a guide for protection of natural resources," the news release says. "It is meant to be an organic document, evolving as the park grows and as knowledge is gained about a park’s natural resources and public use."

Chimney Rock State Park, authorized in 2005, comprises more than 4,300 acres in Rutherford, Polk, Henderson and Buncombe counties, including Hickory Nut Gorge. The private Chimney Rock park was added to the state's property in 2007, and is the primary public access to the state park.

Written comments can be submitted through June 23 through the Greenways website or by mail to: General Management Plan Coordinator, N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation, 1615 MSC, Raleigh, NC 27699-1615.

The Friends of the Mountains to Sea Trail are looking for volunteers to help remove debris blocking a critical link of the MST in northwestern North Carolina, the group says in its May newsletter.

The group wants help for all of part of May 21-27 to clear a 25-mile section of the trail under construction from Horse Gap near Glendale Springs to Bamboo Gap near Blowing Rock. The burgeoning trail is littered with limbs and other timber knocked down in winter storms.

The FMST hopes to have the section cleared and reconstructed in time for its official state designation and opening in October as part of North Carolina Mountains-to-Sea Trail Month.

The ongoing Mountains-to-Sea Trail project is to eventually extend across the state for approximately 900 miles from Clingmans Dome in the mountains to Jockey's Ridge on the Outer Banks. More than 350 miles of it have been completed.

Volunteers will assist certified chainsaw users from the U.S. Forest Service by pulling cut debris away from the trail and using hand loppers and pruning saws to cut smaller branches. They should bring safety glasses or goggles and appropriate work clothes and shoes.

The newsletter says some volunteers will be able to camp at Julian Price Campground on the Blue Ridge Parkway, but the deadline was May 14. Allen de Hart was coordinating camping reservations for the group (we suppose you can check with him if you're interested). Volunteers should bring their own camping equipment and provisions.

Jim Hallsey and John Lanman are contacts for volunteers to work on the trail.

North Carolina State Parks this month initiated their first fee increase since 2003 for camping, cabin and boat rentals, admission to some swimming areas and picnic shelter rentals at all state parks and state recreation areas.

The amount of the increase varies, the state Division of Parks and Recreation news release says. "For example, the fee for a standard campsite without utilities will increase from $15 to $17 per night, admission to swim areas will increase from $4 to $5 per day and rental for a medium-sized picnic shelter will change from $60 to $70 per day."

Parking at Jordan Lake, Falls Lake and Kerr Lake state recreation areas will be $6 per vehicle.

Thirty-four of more than 50 State Parks properties have no admission fees, the news release says.

The General Assembly improved the fee increase in its 2009 session.