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Idaho Parks seeks seasonal pay increases, staff consolidation and capital funding for docks and parks maintenance
Summary
The Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation told the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee it needs ongoing and one-time funding to address seasonal pay, staff pay compression, deferred maintenance and several capital projects, including replacement of two marinas at Heyburn State Park.
At a Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee hearing, Director Susan Buxton of the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation summarized the agency's 2026 budget requests, including a proposal to consolidate two internal programs, raise seasonal employee pay from $12 to $15 an hour, implement a tiered ranger pay program and fund several one-time capital projects.
The department, which administers Idaho's 30 state parks and trail systems and is funded largely with dedicated and federal revenue, is allocated 190.8 full-time positions in the current base. Analyst Janet Jessup of the legislative services office told the committee that capital development currently has no FTP in the base because those projects are funded as one-time capital outlays.
Jessup said the department's requests include additional park personnel and statewide operating increases to cover rising utility and maintenance costs. "We're going to be starting off with the Department of Parks and Recreation," she told the committee when opening the agency presentation, noting supporting materials were posted in the committee's SharePoint.
Buxton told members the consolidation request would merge the management services and park operations programs into a single budgeted program. She described the change as "a ministerial request" intended to simplify administration and said it would net to zero in appropriation while not reducing visibility into fund sources or uses.
Buxton outlined pay concerns. She said many park managers and administrators are paid less than comparable positions elsewhere in state government and that the agency has been addressing pay compression since 2020. "State parks are like little cities," Buxton said. "When you see what they have to do, take care of sewer systems, water systems, roads ... you see the complexity of what they do." The department proposes targeted increases for ranger positions and a step-based approach to restore pay differentials.
On seasonal pay, the department requested funding to raise the typical seasonal rate from $12 to $15 an hour. The agency said it hires about 300 seasonal employees annually and coordinates more than 500 volunteers. Human resources officer Jennifer Quindell Miller told the committee local labor markets vary and that managers may need to offer wages above $15 in resort or remote locations; Buxton and staff said some hiring markets already require $17–$18 to recruit workers.
The presentation also highlighted capital and replacement requests. Buxton identified sizeable capital-outlay requests for Bear Lake Fish Haven improvements and Lake Cascade; the governor's recommendation included the agency's requests in full. Buxton said Heyburn State Park — a 7,000-acre park on Lake Coeur d'Alene established in 1909 — needs replacement of two aging marinas; she said the Coeur d'Alene Tribe has contributed design work and offered funding and that replacement docks would increase slip counts. She identified the marinas by name in the hearing as Rocky Point and Chocolat.
Operations administrator Troy Elmore described a planned purchase of a compact wheel loader funded by the snowmobile sticker fund. "We administer the snowmobile program. The counties operate the equipment. The department owns the groomers," Elmore said. He said the purchase would be the third such piece of equipment and serve roughly a third of the snowmobile-grooming parking lots; the program coordinates about 27 county programs statewide.
Committee members asked for more detail on deferred maintenance projects and asked that the department provide a written summary of outstanding projects and expenditures. Vice Chair Miller and other members also pressed staff for more granular cost and pay-market data for seasonal hires and managers.
The governor's recommendation included the agency's requests for 2026 without deviation; committee members requested additional written detail on the status of deferred maintenance projects and related funding flows.
What happens next: committee members requested the department provide a written summary of deferred maintenance projects and status updates on the Heyburn (Heyburn State Park) marina work and other capital items.
