Gov. Jay Inslee to consider $100 million plan to fund state parks

A governor’s task force has a new plan to raise $100 million for Washington state parks and outdoor recreation.

The legislature slashed funding for parks during the recession and state budget analyst and task force member Jim Cahill said the Discover Pass has helped, but hasn’t gotten them all the way there.

“It has not fully replaced all of the funding that’s been lost during budget reductions in 2007-’09,” he said.

The governor’s Blue Ribbon Task Force on Parks and Outdoor Recreation’s final report recommended three funding sources for parks including an excise tax on travel trailers and motor homes, diversion of money from a watercraft excise tax and a sales tax on bottled water.

“These would be considered a significant advancement because, I think, we would be able to really have programs at state parks and our other lands that would be meeting customer needs and starting to make a real significant dent in our deferred maintenance of our facilities,” said Cahill.

The 29-member task force recommended 12 actions to the governor and the legislature, including ways to increase participation in outdoor recreation. It called for funding of a grant program called No Child Left Inside, to promote outdoor activities for children.

The expert panel also underscored the value of outdoor recreation as an economic driver in Washington and called for the Department of Commerce to designate the outdoors as an industry sector within the agency. Outdoor recreation directly supports 227,000 jobs and generates more than $22 billion in annual spending, according to a press release from the governor’s office.

Cahill said the governor will consider the recommendations when he makes his two-year budget proposal to the legislature.