By BILL STEVENSON
and DEE CAMP
     Legislators representing Okanogan County are calling announcement of the possible closure of Conconully and other state parks a scare tactic by Gov. Gary Locke to sway voters against Referendum 49.
     By making the state Parks and Recreation Commission appear to lose funding and be forced to close nearly a third of all state parks, the impression left with voters is a lack of money in the general fund, says 7th District Sen. Bob Morton, R-Orient.
     "It is scare tactic on the part of the governor," said Morton. "I feel completely confident the state Legislature will fund the state parks."
     Last summer Locke asked all state agencies to reduce their budgets by 7 percent in preparation for a tighter budget in 1999, with an overall loss of 7 percent expected by Locke if Referendum 49 passes.
     The measure will be on the Nov. 3 ballot.
     Passing the referendum would mean a $30 reduction in annual vehicle licenses, as well as reallocation of funds from the state general fund to the state Department of Transportation budget for construction of state highways.
     "He has more control of the general fund," said Morton. "It is a propaganda move on the governor's part to scare people away from Referendum 49."
     Closure of Conconully State Park is unlikely, according to Morton, who said he is working to keep all of the parks open and fund needed maintenance programs.
     Meanwhile, the state Parks and Recreation Commission Sept. 17 accepted the recommendation of an ad hoc panel to create a two-tiered list of parks slated for closure. Conconully is on the second list, with the combined lists comprising 42 of 127 staffed state parks.
     The commission says it expects a $2 million shortfall in anticipated funding. Locke's cutback would add another $3 million in cuts.
     Commission members decided not to tinker with the list since it was scheduled to go to Locke yesterday, Sept. 22. To add other parks to the list wouldn't be fair to supporters of those parks, said Susan Zemek, spokeswoman for the commission.
     She said the commission received several hundred letters, phone calls, faxes and e-mails, and at least one petition from people protesting park closures.
     Commission members are taking the situation seriously, and passed a resolution stating closure of even one park is unacceptable, she said.
     "We don't think of it as political," she said.
     Sen. George Sellar, R-East Wenatchee, said legislators have "heard a lot about the governor's plan to close 42 state parks, but the Legislature is not going to close parks for budgetary reasons."
     The 12th District legislators said the most recent revenue forecast "indicates we could increase spending by 7 percent and still have more than $600 million in reserve for emergencies."
     "There are no justifications for the governor's threatened closure of state parks," said House Speaker Clyde Ballard, R-East Wenatchee. "What he is saying is just not factual. It is an entire distortion of facts."
     He added, "The American public is looking for truth and not playing with facts, as this can lead to people believing it's the government distorting things, and that is not true."
     Factual disagreements are fine, "but to have faceless threats is totally unacceptable," said Ballard. "The threats to close the parks are entirely from the governor and certainly not from the Legislature."
See related photo

By BILL STEVENSON
See related photo
     As state officials talk of closing Conconully State Park, business owners are bracing for the possibility of losing up to half of their customers.
     The state could close 42 parks across the state after a $2 million deficit was discovered in the 1998 budget and Gov. Gary Locke asked the agency to trim the 1999 budget by $3 million more.
     Conconully Park is in the second tier of parks slated for closure.
     Business owners in Conconully say they see the potential closure as a threat to their economic livelihood.
     The community's economy depends on the tourist trade generated by camping opportunities and people visiting the state park in town for a day activities, according to Conconully Chamber of Commerce president Larry Hamilton.
     Conconully park ranger Douglas Hinton said campers accounted for about 8,000 visitors last year, with daily visitors such as picnickers, fishers, families using the park and organized group meetings constituting the rest of the 109,460 people who visited the park in 1997.
     On the recent Labor Day weekend, the campground was full with 80 campsites being used, averaging 160 people in the park, and the Okanogan County Pioneer Picnic brought another 1,500 people, he estimated.
     "When folks come to camp at Conconully, people usually eat some meals at their site," said Hinton. "But part of the charm is going into town. We are very intimately tied to the town and the businesses."
     Hamilton said he feels businesses would have economic trouble with the reduction in tourism since the park provides one-third to one-half of the tourists who purchase goods and services in town.
     "The RV people have their own supplies, but the people in the park are tenting it and buy stuff," said Hamilton. "It'll devastate the stores and restaurants. They rely on that foot traffic."
     If the park closes, private RV parks would see an increase in people choosing to rent spaces to put up tents, a situation the four privately owned parks are not ready to handle, according to Hamilton.
     He said the park also carries a historic aspect. Many generations have camped in town. Some regularly visiting couples have been married in the park and return with their families each year.
     "A gentleman, who attended the (pioneer) picnic said his grandfather attended the picnic when they had to move rattlesnakes and cow patties to hold it," said Hinton of a visitor who was more than 80 years old. "There are three or four generations that use our park."
     Jim Harris, parks and recreation eastern regional manager, said a state closure panel took economics and historical tradition into consideration, and felt there were many parks where closure would impact communities even greater than Conconully.
     "We have always talked about the benefit of recreation and bringing tourist dollars into a community," said Harris. "We feel badly about the impact to all the communities around the parks on the list."
     Lake Resort RV Park owner Janie Carpenter said closure would decrease her business since people come up from the park to rent boats, and buy fishing tackle, ice or snacks from her business before fishing on the upper lake.
     Labor Day weekend and the Fourth of July weekend are big draws "and it brings a lot of business to this town," Carpenter said. "It keeps this little town going."
     De Miner, a bartender at the Sit'n'Bull Saloon in Conconully, said closure would impact on the community and the saloon since summer business from campers would drop off considerably, leading to possible layoffs.
     "We live for the summer," said Miner. "We live all winter on what we make during the summer. It would be horrible."
     During the last two weeks the state park provided the bulk of the saloon's business, with people coming in on foot as they walk through town to see the lakes and visit various businesses.
     "Even with the campers at Kerr Campground and the RV parks, it is the people at the park that can leave their rigs and walk in," said Miner.
     Andy Lawrence, owner of Conconully General Store, predicts his business would suffer with the loss of the pedestrians from the state park who shop in his store.
     "It could be devastating since the state park houses tenters, said Lawrence. "Tenters are the ones who are more likely to hit the grocery store than the RV people."
     Lawrence estimated 25-35 percent of his business comes from state park users purchasing ice, milk and other perishables. A loss of such a high percentage of business would make it tough for him to continue operating.
     "The grocery items would be the main impact in this type of business," said Lawrence. "You can tell the difference when the park is empty."
     The gas pumps help the store make it through the winter for snowmobilers, wood cutters and hunters, but the majority of the business is during the summer months, he said.