Bad news — Moon Lake park (and trails) closing
Monday, December 22nd, 2008There was a disturbing article the other day in the Times Leader, the local newspaper, in this article. Moon Lake, the county park where I went mountain biking in the snow a couple of weeks ago, is going to be closing five months out of the year, because of county-wide budget problems. I don’t know what, if anything, can be done, but I am very disappointed — I had a blast riding there. Many people have put in a lot of hours of volunteer work on those trails, and I can only imagine how they must feel now that they can’t enjoy the fruit of their own labor.
The article has a great quote from the park director, saying business has been better, not worse, in this down economy, so this closing really doesn’t make sense:
“Now that times are hard, our business is up, not down. We took in a lot more money from our campground. The average guy doesn’t have money to go away on vacation and really looks forward to that week of camping,” Madrack said.
I just hope this is really a temporary situation, and that in a year or two they can go back to being open year round. If things get worse, will they close the park altogether? I sure hope not.
December 22nd, 2008 at 11:06 am
I agree, it doesn’t make much sense, but I’m guessing the manager(s) need to work jobs that pay a little more?
December 22nd, 2008 at 1:25 pm
Is there a fence? If not, I’d just consider the park open.
December 22nd, 2008 at 1:31 pm
Bone, I’ve been thinking the same thing, and I think it’s a very real possibility. We will have to see.
December 23rd, 2008 at 9:43 pm
Sound like a situation close to home here. Otter Creek, which is 30 miles south of L’Ville, is owned by the city. It’s boon for locals of all persuasion, and certainly with mtbikers with its 15 miles of trails. The city announced its indefinite closure starting Jan 1.
Interestingly, my dad lives in MI. There for the state parks you have to buy a yearly sticker, but those $$s go back into the parks. I bet many would do so for Otter Creek, and perhaps for your local one too. Good luck with that.
December 30th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
I never understand some of these fiscal decisions. I can see National or even state parks closing if there is a need for a ranger on duty, but local parks rarely have anyone there anyway. Why would they need to close at all? And if volunteers are active anyway, they can be doing most of the maintenance (sounds like they are anyway). As your quote says, more people are staying closer to home, so having these options makes sense.
December 30th, 2008 at 5:02 pm
Supposedly, they can’t have the park open when no one is there, for insurance reasons. It sounds a little crazy to me, but then again I’ve learned that Pennsylvania has some really weird laws. I don’t know what to think.