OUR STATE PARKS CLOSING!!!

We as the Kettle Creek Valley Business Association are distressed over the thought of the possibility of the Governor closing all of the parks and many miles of forestry roads in our local area.   Specifically Kettle Creek State Park, Ole Bull State Park, Hyner State Park, and the Hyner View.  We are working diligently to come up with ways to battle these closures, and ways to figure out how to offset some of the budget short fall so that our local parks can remain open. If you are a hunter, fisherman, snowmobiler, hiker, 4 wheeling, or just an outdoor enthusiast and have a great interest in our area and what we provide, we would like to solicit YOUR help in signing petitions (at most local business) to keep our parks and miles of forestry area open for public use.  Also, Contact you State Representative or the Governors’ Hot Line at 1-717-787-5962. E-mail  http://sites.state.pa.us/PA_Exec/Governor/govmail.html or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Hon. Michael K. Hanna (570) 748-5480 Fax:  E-mail  http://www.pahouse.com/hanna/contact.asp

Kettle Creek 1740 acre state park, hosted 97,149 visitors in 2008.

Ole Bull 132 acre state park, hosted 82, 444 visitors in 2008.

-          Budget reductions of $638, 654 will occur if Kettle Creek & Ole Bull State Park close. 

-          The annual revenues made in 2008 were $193, 471.   

-          Leaving $445,183 to be covered by the state budget which is 30% efficiency. 

-          This will take 2.34% of the 19 million the Governor needs to bridge the gap meeting our state budget.

With 179,593 people visiting our area on a yearly basis, the impact on this local economy would be devastating.  With so much mileage owned by the state, (Sproul state 303,000 acres – the largest in PA forest system, Susquehanna state forest 265, 000 acre forest) relying on other businesses is essentially nonexistent.  200 miles of snowmobile trails will be broken, 43 miles of ATV trails will be broken.

This will shut down at least 35 businesses around the Kettle Creek and Ole Bull state parks. Not including the impact to the nearby towns as they travel to and from our area.