DATE: Sunday, August 10, 1997               TAG: 9708080039

SECTION: COMMENTARY              PAGE: J4   EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: Book Review

                                            LENGTH:   68 lines

STATE PARKS THIS LAND IS WHOSE LAND?

Virginia Secretary of Natural Resources Becky Norton Dunlop describes herself as ``an unabashed supporter of private property rights.'' Private property generates taxes and inspires good stewardship of the environment, she believes.

Robert Hicks, former state director of Conservation and Recreation, describes himself as an unabashed supporter of public property rights. ``It's a fundamental right of the people to have access to open space for purposes of recreation and enjoyment,'' he says.

That philosophical divide is at the heart of a simmering state government dispute over whether the Allen administration has made proper use of a $95.4 million bond issue for state parks approved by the voters in 1992.

At the end of May, 43 percent of the park money had been spent. By comparison, 86 percent of the $472.4 million for education approved in the same referendum had been used, as had 78 percent of the $45 million approved for mental health.

That gap has stirred concern from various legislative panels - including, most recently, the joint subcommittee on the Future of Virginia's Environment, headed by House Speaker Thomas W. Moss Jr. of Norfolk. Rightly so.

Dunlop's philosophical moorings in the private-ownership-equals-good-stewardship school are reason enough for the lawmakers to keep a wary eye on the goings-on at the reconstituted Department of Conservation and Recreation, where the bonds are being administered.

It now appears that most or all of the parks' money will be spent by late next year. Whether the legislative scrutiny played a role is hard to tell. And there is some truth to the administration's argument that parks and colleges are different animals.

Historically, it has proved more time-consuming to complete a large number of small construction projects in remote and far-flung areas of the state than a few big projects at major institutions.

Simply getting the bond money spent isn't the only concern, however. There's also a question of how it's used.

The referendum included $26 million to acquire park lands. But according to administration officials, close to half that amount will be used to ``improve'' newly purchased land, not buy more.

Prior to Dunlop's arrival in Richmond, bond counsel in the Wilder administration said acquisition money also could be spent on basic infrastructure - roads, sewers and the like. But the Allen administration has gone further, slating some $3.5 million for above-ground structures such as camping sites and visitors' centers.

Dunlop, who in a recent interview described a park as ``a little island of outdoor ambiance in the midst of a developed society,'' defends such spending. The public wants usable parks, she says.

That is doubtless true. But Hicks raises a compelling counterargument. He recalls being told during statewide public hearings in the late 1980s that only a couple dozen of Virginia's thousands of miles of waterfront property were in public hands. That figure has grown some, but not much.

He recalls also that at the time the bond issue was approved, Virginia ranked 47th among the 50 states in state park acreage per capita.

For too long, the scales have tipped heavily in Virginia against public ownership of land. Parks have been underacquired and undermaintained. The 1992 referendum was an attempt to create a better balance.

Money slated for acquisitions, including the park money and another $11.5 million for purchasing ``natural areas,'' should be used for that purpose. If one plot of land costs less than expected, then an additional one can be bought. A different pot of money should fund improvements.

The legislature is right to ride herd on the process, especially since the orientation of powerful officials appears to be at odds with the broader public will.

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