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 state awards: “...it was created to assist in managing our $50,000,000 federal grants portfolio, which I’d be remiss not to mention has doubled in the last 5 years,” and she added the department also manages about $18,000,000 in state-funded awards.

The presentation described five appropriations in the proposed budget:

- Administration: includes the one newly allocated general-funded grants position moved from the Forest Economy program to the business office; salary and benefits are reflected in the general fund column.

- Forestry: upward pressures are driven by benefits and higher travel and transportation expenses; new federal awards and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) funding are expected and are shown mainly in contracted expenses. Blimmer said the department has approval for IRA-funded positions but is awaiting federal guidance: “there’s a 90 day pause on those IRA grants, BIL grants… they’re reviewing them one by one,” and the department is currently in a holding pattern on those positions.

- Parks: the department moved $500,000 of BYCC serve/learn/earn program funding from personal services to grants to reflect that the funding is passed through as subrecipient grants, and park special-fund spending is adjusted after a FY25 one-time outlay for a landing craft (boat). Blimmer emphasized rising costs: “mostly due to inflation, Park’s operating expenses have increased by 34% over the last 5 years.” She listed higher insurance and energy costs, wages and supply-chain pressures as contributors.

- Division of Lands, Administration and Recreation: includes two new grants-program staff split across funds, planned land acquisitions in the special fund and increased federal subrecipient awards tied to the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The presentation also noted a new memorandum of understanding to support state lands planning and public engagement work.

- Parks and forest roads: this appropriation remained level-funded compared with FY25. Fitzko said the fund helps maintain roughly 600 miles of state forest and park access roads and that the regular maintenance fund has been flat after prior reductions; the department has requested FY26–FY27 capital funds for roads.

Blimmer and Fitzko answered members’ questions about vacancy management and limited-service positions funded by grants. On grant-funded limited-service positions such as the climate forester, Fitzko said these are created when grant dollars are new and renewed only if additional grant funding is secured: the climate forester position was initially grant-funded and remains so as grant support continues.

On park fees, Blimmer noted fee levels are set by rule and last updated in August 2022; the department is reviewing fee and revenue opportunities because revenue has not kept pace with rising expenses despite steady visitation of about one million annual park visitors in recent years.

The presentation named several external funding and program items relevant to the budget, including the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) grants, the Land and Water Conservation Fund, a $1,000,000 contract for recreational improvements under an MOU with ACCD, and planned subrecipient awards totaling an increase of $2,200,000 tied to clean-water projects and BMP work.

The committee concluded by voting to send an updated letter to the House Appropriations Committee documenting the requests and priorities discussed. Representative Lipsky read the roll; the recorded vote was 7 yes, 0 no, 1 absent. No formal amendments to the department budget were made in the meeting.

The department said it is continuing to recruit seasonal staff (about 450 seasonal positions at peak) and is holding on a small number of limited-service positions pending federal decisions on IRA awards.

Votes at a glance

- Vote to send letter to House Appropriations Committee: approved, 7–0–1 (Chairman Dorothy: yes; Vice Chair Supernaugh: yes; Representative Morgan: yes; Representative Lipsky: yes; Representative O’Brien: yes; Representative Nelson: yes; Representative Bosler: yes; Representative Berg: absent).