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DNR: State parks rely on user fees, face large infrastructure backlog despite recent ARPA and private support
Summary
DNR officials told the House Appropriations Subcommittee that Michigan state parks are largely funded by user fees and face a multi‑year infrastructure backlog that the department is tackling with ARPA, grants and public‑private partnerships.
Chief Ron Olson, chief of parks and recreation for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, told the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development and Natural Resources that state parks rely heavily on user fees and face an infrastructure backlog that the department is addressing with American Rescue Plan Act funds, grants and private donations.
Olson said the department’s “user‑pay” funding model means about 80% of State Park funding comes from the Park Improvement Fund (camping and recreational passport sales), with a park endowment and a small share of the general fund covering the rest. He told the committee the recreational passport is now $14 after a CPI escalator and that the system recorded 38 million state park visitors in 2023, a 43% increase since 2019.
The nut of Olson’s presentation was that while visitation and local economic impacts are large — he cited $53 billion in tourism dollars and $11…
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