Montana State Parks continues to wrestle with downsizing
Next year Montana State Parks will take steps to increase staffing at its premier sites by transferring employee hours from less-visited parks.
“We said we needed 10 (full-time equivalent employees), but we’ve only redirected three plus,” said Chas Van Genderen, parks administrator. “So we still have a gap of seven.”
This is the next step in the agency’s move to concentrate resources at its more prestigious and most-visited properties while stepping back from sites that see fewer tourists. It has not been an easy process and continues to vex the parks division’s staff, as well as the Montana State Parks and Recreation Board, which met in Helena on Wednesday.
Part of that process is looking at what are now termed Class III parks, places like Cooney and Tongue River Reservoir, for possible staff cuts without reducing amenities for visitors whose fees generate income for the parks department.
Read more: http://billingsgazette.com/lifestyles/recreation/montana-state-parks-continues-to-wrestle-with-downsizing/article_3a187a1b-8a2d-52f7-bdfe-e33ed6b7446b.html