Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation presents mostly level FY26 budget; committee endorses appropriations letter

Commissioner Danielle Fitzko, Commissioner of Forests, Parks and Recreation, and Ansley Blimmer, director of business administration, told a House committee that the department’s FY26 proposed budget is largely level, with targeted changes to cover rising internal service costs, personnel shifts to manage an expanding grants portfolio and new federal awards.

The budget matters because it funds state parks, forest roads and statewide conservation programs that rely increasingly on federal grant dollars and face rising operating costs. Fitzko and Blimmer said the department has added grant-funded positions and reallocated one existing general-funded position to central administration to manage what Blimmer described as “a $50,000,000 federal grants portfolio” that “has doubled in the last 5 years.” The committee voted 7 yes, 0 no, 1 absent to send a letter to the House Appropriations Committee supporting department priorities.

Fitzko said moving an existing position from the Forest Economy program into the administration was difficult but necessary. “This was a, a really probably one of the hardest decisions I’ve actually made,” Fitzko said, explaining the move used a vacant position number created by an internal recruitment and retirement in the Forest Economy program. Blimmer said the move reflects the department’s need to manage both federal and…