Taking over a state agency in the midst of a state audit would not be the choice of most people. But Dean Winstanley is devoted to Colorado State Parks, its mission, people and future, so when he was offered the job of director in November 2007, he took it.
The Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation audit, from May 2007 to June 2008, was triggered by dubious financial and management decisions made by the previous administration. The audit’s 28 recommendations are now being implemented.
When the entire economy is in an upheaval, it’s reassuring that a government agency can do a financial turn-around. This is a sterling lesson for transparency and accountability, both essential in managing our public inheritance — especially since Coloradans consistently show they value these rare open spaces, even voting to financially support them.
“The audit highlighted that we need to know more about what we own, what condition the properties are in, how we’re taking care of the parks, and how we spend the money,” Winstanley explained. “We have one of the best park systems in the country, and the audit gave us a blueprint for the future.”
Colorado State Parks, celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, is an irreplacable resource. The division oversees 224,000 acres of land and water, with 42 state parks open to the public and two others in the works. Almost 12 million people enjoy the parks each year, 90 percent from Colorado. The division owns 22 percent of those lands, the rest leased from federal, state and local governments, and private owners. Scattered across the state, the parks have seven furnished cabins, 60 rustic cabins or yurts and nearly 4,400 campsites. Admission is $6 a car, a bargain.
Visitors enjoy a day with nature, getting exercise or solitude. They picnic, hike, camp, fish, boat, snowmobile, snowshoe, enjoy water sports and learn about the environment. With Americans getting fatter and losing touch with nature, the parks are a significant antidote.
There are more than 604 miles of trails with overlapping use: 526 miles are for hiking, 454 for biking, and 333 for horseback. Volunteers give almost 200,000 hours to our parks annually.
Winstanley came to Parks in January 1992 as legislative liaison, then in March 2005 to budgeting and planning for the Department of Natural Resources executive director.
The real attention-getter was July 2008, when Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) held back $8.6 million for fiscal 2008-09 because of audit findings. Non-governmental GOCO was approved by Colorado voters in a 1992 constitutional amendment that stipulated net proceeds from state-supervised lottery games “shall be guaranteed and permanently dedicated to the preservation, protection, enhancement and management of the state’s wildlife, parks, rivers, trails and open space heritage.”
The amendment was carefully worded so the legislature couldn’t raid the fund. Forty percent of lottery net proceeds go to the Conservation Trust Fund, 10 percent directly to state parks, and 50 percent to the GOCO Trust Fund, with a maximum annual cap of $35 million (adjusted for inflation). Parks and the Division of Wildlife are chief beneficiaries. From 2003 to 2007, Parks received $13.4 million annually from the GOCO Trust Fund, or 23 percent of its funding.
State Parks staff has worked diligently to remedy its shortcomings, and Winstanley is pleased that GOCO has released $3.4 million, with another allotment coming up.
“I want State Parks to make a difference, to really make efforts to connect kids with the outdoors. They’re our next generation of stewards of the land, of the people’s parks. It’s important to keep them affordable.”
