BONDS TO BOOST PARKS OUT OF BASEMENT

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, February 2, 1992                   TAG: 9202030011
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: C13   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN OUTDOOR EDITOR
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
BONDS TO BOOST PARKS OUT OF BASEMENT
Gov. Douglas Wilder's bond issue contains $90 million aimed at leading the Virginia state park system out of the basement of the national rankings.
Even though the state is well known for its natural and historical assets and outdoor recreation, it ranks 35th nationally in total state park acreage and 47th in state park acreage per capita.
"The last time we started an acquisition for a state park was 1972," said R. Gary Waugh, Jr., the communications manager for the Division of State Parks.
The bond issue, which received unanimous support from more than two dozen speakers during a public hearing in Richmond last week, contains $25 million for the purchase of four new park sites, $10.5 million to acquire eight natural areas and $53 million to upgrade existing parks.
The proposed new parks would be along the Rappahannock River east of Fredericksburg, in Southwest Virginia near Cumberland Gap, along the Shenandoah River in Clarke and Loudoun counties and along the James River near Lynchburg.
The natural areas, important for their beauty and diversity and their rare plants and animals, include tracts in Franklin, Floyd and Grayson counties.
The timing is ideal for parkland purchase, said Waugh.
"This is a situation when you have two real benefits. One, the [real estate] market is soft, so the state probably can come in and get some lands at a very reasonable price. Two, developments have slowed, so that the lands valuable for parks and natural areas still exist."
The biggest chunk of the bond money would go for upgrading and improving existing parks, including $11.5 million to replace utility systems that date back to the early 1930s.
Some $1.6 million would be used to construct 20 vacation cabins at Smith Mountain Lake State Park, the first cabins built in a state park since the 1950s, said Waugh.
Cabins in Douthat, Claytor Lake, Fairy Stone and Hungry Mother state parks would get heating and air conditioning for year-round use in an effort to increase tourism, he said.
"We would have more demand in the winter, spring and fall if we had some kind of temperature control other than just a fireplace."
Nearly $2.5 million would be used to construct a conference dining hall and visitor center at Hungry Mother and $2.7 million would be earmarked for an environmental education center at Natural Tunnel State Park.
"We are the fifth-fastest growing state in the U.S.," said Waugh. "The rate that we are growing, we would need an additional 8,000 acres of parkland to meet public demand by the year 2000."
State parks are getting about 4 million visitors annually, with last year's use higher than the previous year even though the season was shortened because of budget restraints, Waugh said.
If approved by the General Assembly, the bond package would go to voters in November.
"To get this kind of support from the administration is very rare," said Waugh. "We are extremely excited about it. It is the first time we have ever talked about this kind of shot in the arm. The last bond package, I believe, was back in 1977, and that was for $5 million."

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB