This Land, Your Land

North Carolina's state parks had a banner year in 2011, recording 14.25 million visits, which matches the all-time record set in 2009 and slightly exceeds the 14.19 million park visits in 2010, the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation said in a news release today.

Jockey’s Ridge State Park in Dare County had the highest attendance last year at 1.32 million visits, which was actually a bit fewer than 2010's 1.47 million.

Among 39 state parks and state recreation areas, 15 reported increases in attendance in 2011.

Parks with significant increases in visitation include Dismal Swamp State Park in Camden County (34 percent), Elk Knob State Park in Watauga County (50 percent), Jones Lake State Park in Bladen County (26 percent), Kerr Lake State Recreation Area in Vance County (24 percent) and Medoc Mountain State Park in Halifax County (31 percent).

Several parks with new or improved amenities opening last year saw big jumps in attendance. A new 700-foot swim beach and picnic area at Lake James State Park opened for its first full season, and the park saw a 70 percent jump in visitation. A renovated marina opened at Carolina Beach State Park, a new equestrian trail network opened at Medoc Mountain and a number of hiking trails, including a volunteer-built summit trail, opened at Elk Knob.

Full attendance figures are available here.

Jones Lake State Park in Bladen County, below, was one of several state parks to see attendance increases in 2011. Click on the photo for more information about Jones Lake.

We've tried to round up Hurricane Irene damage reports to coastal parks and recreation areas, but reporting is sparse so far.

The biggest problem is the several breaches to N.C. 12, the main highway on Hatteras Island, the largest of which is shown in the DOT photo below. This leaves the island south of Rodanthe, including Cape Hatteras National Seashore, cut off from cars.

At Cape Lookout National Seashore, "The Cape Lookout lighthouse is standing," a National Park Service news release says. "All docks appear impacted with varying amounts of damage and should be considered dangerous. Structures have roof and siding damage. Infrastructures, including the back roads, have also sustained damage."

The Wright Brothers National Memorial at Kitty Hawk remained closed Tuesday morning. Just down the road, Fort Raleigh National Historic Site has the same report.

Several Croatan National Forest day use sites and campgrounds are near New Bern, one of the areas hit hardest by the hurricane, but the Forest Service has not reported damages yet.

At Carolina Beach State Park, the staff was clearing debris and working to reopen trails and camping areas by Tuesday afternoon, the Wilmington Star-News said Monday. Nearby, Fort Fisher State Recreation Area reopened Sunday.

In addition to Carolina Beach, the state Division of Parks and Recreation said Tuesday morning that eight other state parks remained closed to all visitors: Cliffs of the Neuse, Dismal Swamp, Goose Creek, Hammocks Beach, Jockey's Ridge, Merchants Millpond, Pettigrew and Medoc Mountain. In reopened parks, the state said, some trails and facilities may remain closed until assessment and cleanup is complete.

Nineteen state parks were closed in eastern and central North Carolina late last week prior to the storm.

Like other organizations, the state's Coastal Reserves reported the closing of five sites in anticipation of the storm, but have no followup so far.

Several state parks and forests could close next year to save the state money toward the $3.5 billion budget shortfall projected for the 2011-12 fiscal year, The News & Observer said today. Other parks could be closed three days of the week.

The proposal calls for closing Mount Jefferson State Natural Area in Ashe County, Singletary Lake State Park in Bladen County, Rendezvous Mountain Educational State Forest in Wilkes County, and Turnbull Creek Educational State Forest in Bladen County.

Other state parks would close on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, except for Carolina Beach, Chimney Rock, Fort Macon, Haw River, Jockey's Ridge and Mount Mitchell, which have contracts requiring them to remain open, according to The N&O, and Hammocks Beach and Umstead, which are impractical to close.

"The proposals are just the first step in what is likely to be a long and winding political path as the Democratic governor considers her options and then the new Republican legislature enacts a budget, probably some time next summer," Rob Christensen writes for The N&O. "But the options are the clearest indications yet that the lives of millions of North Carolinians will likely be touched by a new wave of austerity in state government that has not been seen since the Great Depression of the 1930s."

Singletary Lake State Park, which is set up as a camp for recognized nonprofit groups, has had 22,670 visitors this year through September, a 12 percent increase from last year, according to The Steward, the state parks' employee newsletter. Mount Jefferson State Natural Area's attendance figures, which are reported lumped with figures from New River State Park, show 291,012 visitors this year through September, up 30 percent from last year.

The Educational State Forests program is designed to teach the public - especially school children - about the forest environment with seven forests across the state that feature self-guided trails, exhibits, tree identification signs, a forest education center and a talking tree trail.