(Condensed from Little Rock District Army Corps of Engineers news release.)
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The Little Rock District of the Army Corps of Engineers is proposing operational changes at several of its parks, including closing some less efficient facilities. 
Little Rock District operates dams and parks along the White River, within Arkansas, and at Clearwater Lake near Piedmont.
A series of public workshops to discuss these proposals and solicit public input is being scheduled for February at Piedmont, Mo., and at Mountain Home, Heber Springs, Russellville and Ozark, Ark. The workshop times, dates and locations will be announced when they are finalized. (Ed. note: See February print or e-Edition Traveler for details of proposed cutbacks at Clearwater and Wappapello Lakes, including interviews with Corps staff.)
Proposed impacts include closing 13 campgrounds, four partial campgrounds, four day use areas, one partial day use area, and 10 boat ramps in 29 parks. The recreation season at many additional parks may be shortened.
Park services proposed to suffer include the frequency of trash pick-up, cleaning and mowing, as well as increasing maintenance response time and fewer temporary park rangers, law enforcement agreements and contract park attendants.
The proposed changes will save an estimated $1.9 million annually ($921,000 for operation and maintenance expenses and $989,000 for labor).
Little Rock District operates 178 public parks and access areas. About 8% of its facilities are expected to bear the majority of the cuts.
Besides recreation, Little Rock District proposes to minimize accepted requests for private boat dock placement or alteration, as well as mowing permits on government land and meandering path permits to the access lakes. Also, the district will reduce inspections of permitted shoreline activities and possibly cancel boundary maintenance.
Periodic lock and dam maintenance, dredging, and funding of the hydropower employee training program are also affected. Most maintenance at power plants will be shifted to agreements utilizing customer funding
Little Rock District flooding costs in 2011 totaled $33.5 million. Operations and maintenance funding has been reduced $17 million, and the maintenance backlog on the district’s top 15 needs is $68 million and growing. These factors are causing the district to limit the levels of service it can offer.
During the past several months, Little Rock District performed a thorough and deliberate review of operation and maintenance programs so the district can focus available funds on the highest priority work.
The district developed a three-tier ‘triage’ like system to help categorize and prioritize tasks because the district did not receive enough money to complete all “normal” day to day tasks.The categories are must do, should do, and nice to do.
The district will address “must do” items before “should do” items, and does not anticipate having enough resources to accomplish any items in the “nice to do” category.
This is consistent with the Corps’ national recreation strategy to have a program that is sustainable and adaptable to fiscal challenges and responsive to user needs. And it will enable Little Rock District to provide the best levels of service within the available budget.
PROPOSED IMPACTS BY PROJECT
(As of January 17, 2012)
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