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http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/dec/30/na-hillsborough-hopes-to-save-egmont-key/
By MIKE SALINERO
msalinero@tampatrib.com
Published: December 30, 2008
TAMPA - The potential closing of Egmont Key State Park has Hillsborough County commissioners looking for a rescue plan to keep the wildlife preserve open.
Commissioner Jim Norman has suggested buying the park should the state close it in a budget-cutting move. Though the 1-square-mile island sits off the southern tip of Pinellas County, it is part of Hillsborough County.
"If they pull the rangers out and they have no management of the site, it actually starts deteriorating," Norman said Monday. "It seems to me it's a valuable asset for Hillsborough County."
Norman and other commissioners recently instructed county staff to research whether buying the park is possible using money from the Environmental Lands Acquisition and Preservation Program. Voters last month extended the ELAPP program, approving up to $200 million borrowed through bond issues to buy land for preservation.
Egmont Key is one of 19 parks slated for possible closing by the state Department of Environmental Protection. The agency is looking for $1.9 million in savings to meet Gov. Charlie Crist's request for 10 percent cuts in all state departments.
A DEP spokeswoman said that if the governor and Legislature approve the list of closings, management of Egmont Key would go to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Agency, which owns most of the island. Because the land is publicly owned, its market value is unknown.
Keith Ramos, the Fish and Wildlife refuge manager who oversees Egmont Key, said it's too early to speculate on whether the agency would sell the land.
"Once we figure out what the state is going to do, we'll figure out what we're going to do," Ramos said.
Norman's proposal has problems. For one, ELAPP bond proceeds are restricted to buying land and some improvements such as restrooms, trails and fences. That means that if the county were to purchase the land, it would have to use property taxes or other general revenue to pay for rangers to protect the park.
The state spends $140,000 a year on oversight at the island, which includes everything from leading interpretive wildlife tours to cleaning restrooms. The rangers' main job, however, is preventing vandalism and protecting wildlife habitat.
"The issue is funding managers who will be out there 24 hours a day," said former County Commissioner Jan Platt, who sits on the Egmont Key Alliance, a nonprofit group that supports the park.
"If the county wants to buy it, that's great," Platt said, "but they have to have money to operate it."
Another option for the county would be to lease the land from the state for a minimal price. Several preserves in Hillsborough are owned by a state agency, but leased and managed by the county, said Kurt Gremley, land acquisition manager for ELAPP.
"If the object is to manage it - if the board wanted to manage it - a lease would accomplish that," Gremley said.
Reporter Mike Salinero can be reached at (813) 259-8303.
By MIKE SALINERO
msalinero@tampatrib.com
Published: December 30, 2008
TAMPA - The potential closing of Egmont Key State Park has Hillsborough County commissioners looking for a rescue plan to keep the wildlife preserve open.
Commissioner Jim Norman has suggested buying the park should the state close it in a budget-cutting move. Though the 1-square-mile island sits off the southern tip of Pinellas County, it is part of Hillsborough County.
"If they pull the rangers out and they have no management of the site, it actually starts deteriorating," Norman said Monday. "It seems to me it's a valuable asset for Hillsborough County."
Norman and other commissioners recently instructed county staff to research whether buying the park is possible using money from the Environmental Lands Acquisition and Preservation Program. Voters last month extended the ELAPP program, approving up to $200 million borrowed through bond issues to buy land for preservation.
Egmont Key is one of 19 parks slated for possible closing by the state Department of Environmental Protection. The agency is looking for $1.9 million in savings to meet Gov. Charlie Crist's request for 10 percent cuts in all state departments.
A DEP spokeswoman said that if the governor and Legislature approve the list of closings, management of Egmont Key would go to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Agency, which owns most of the island. Because the land is publicly owned, its market value is unknown.
Keith Ramos, the Fish and Wildlife refuge manager who oversees Egmont Key, said it's too early to speculate on whether the agency would sell the land.
"Once we figure out what the state is going to do, we'll figure out what we're going to do," Ramos said.
Norman's proposal has problems. For one, ELAPP bond proceeds are restricted to buying land and some improvements such as restrooms, trails and fences. That means that if the county were to purchase the land, it would have to use property taxes or other general revenue to pay for rangers to protect the park.
The state spends $140,000 a year on oversight at the island, which includes everything from leading interpretive wildlife tours to cleaning restrooms. The rangers' main job, however, is preventing vandalism and protecting wildlife habitat.
"The issue is funding managers who will be out there 24 hours a day," said former County Commissioner Jan Platt, who sits on the Egmont Key Alliance, a nonprofit group that supports the park.
"If the county wants to buy it, that's great," Platt said, "but they have to have money to operate it."
Another option for the county would be to lease the land from the state for a minimal price. Several preserves in Hillsborough are owned by a state agency, but leased and managed by the county, said Kurt Gremley, land acquisition manager for ELAPP.
"If the object is to manage it - if the board wanted to manage it - a lease would accomplish that," Gremley said.
Reporter Mike Salinero can be reached at (813) 259-8303.
