Officials to fight tourism cuts

• By MICHELLE MILLHOLLON
• Advocate Capitol News Bureau
• Published: Apr 15, 2009 - Page: 14A

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ST. FRANCISVILLE — Closing state parks and historic sites for several days a week would be like a farmer eating the seed corn that feeds his next crop, state Rep. John Bel Edwards said Tuesday.

Edwards, D-Amite, assured area officials that legislators will find the funding to avoid scaling back operations at state parks and historic sites.

He said he recognizes that limiting hours at the parks and historic sites would impact local restaurants and other businesses.

“We understand how important they are to the economy,” Edwards said during a news conference at Rosedown Plantation, one of more than a dozen state historic sites slated for reduced operating hours because of budget cuts.

Area politicians and tourism echoed Edwards, saying the cuts Gov. Bobby Jindal is proposing would cripple small towns such as St. Francisville that rely on tour buses and sightseers to drive the economy.

Rosedown was the backdrop for a news conference that was supposed to focus on the 75th anniversary of state parks. Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu described the St. Francisville plantation as “the crown jewel of the state park system.”

However, the proposed budget cuts to arts programs, state parks and state historic sites overshadowed the event.

St. Francisville Mayor Billy D’Aquilla gave Landrieu a book as a gift but warned him it came with strings.

“If you close this park, we’re going to take it back,” he said.

The Jindal administration is proposing a $26.7 billion state budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1. The proposal is smaller than the current year’s budget because of a decline in state revenue.

Health care and higher education would sustain the largest cuts. Total funding for the arts would shrink from $7.3 million to $3.2 million. State parks and historic sites would be open two days a week instead of seven days.

Last week, the proposed cuts to programs that Landrieu oversees revealed a disagreement with the Jindal administration.

Landrieu accused the Jindal administration of pitting funding for state parks and arts programs against each other.