From the woods and lakes up North to bluff country down south, Minnesotans love their extensive system of state parks, trails and recreation areas. They enjoy them so much that demand for single-day vehicle permits has increased 34 percent since 2012. The state’s 75 parks and thousands of miles of trails served more than 10 million park visitors and nearly 2 million trail users last year.

Additionally, a portion of those users were attracted to Minnesota’s great outdoors from other states and countries. Those visitors were key contributors to the state’s $14 billion-a-year tourism industry.

People love Minnesota’s natural amenities, but many are loathe to pay higher taxes for them.

Mark Dayton has proposed an $8.9 million increase over two years for the parks and trail system’s $250 million biennial budget, including modest fee hikes. But the House and Senate recommend spending significantly less. The Department of Natural Resources estimates that by 2019 the operating budget would be underfunded by up to $5.8 million under the Senate proposal and $1.5 million under the House plan.

The proposals follow several years of decreased funding for the system (with the exception of a one-time, $3.4 million increase last year) even as the number of users has increased. Parks officials say the Senate and House proposals could lead to significant cuts such as a shorter camping season, shuttered facilities, reduced trail maintenance and less programming.

It’s time for Dayton and legislators to settle on a compromise that combines reasonable fee hikes with modest funding increases. And though it was once a goal for no Minnesotan to have to go farther than 30 miles to reach a state park, it may be time to rethink that directive. Longer term, officials could re-evaluate whether to maintain less popular sites.

Under a DNR proposal, snowmobile registration fees would rise from $25 to $35, for example, and annual state park passes would go from $25 to $30. The per car park entrance fee would rise from $5 to $6. We’d argue that even slightly higher fees would still be affordable and would help close the gap between the proposals by the Dayton administration and the GOP-led Senate and House.

In the past, the parks and trails system received 50 percent of its budget from state taxpayers and the other half from fees, licensing and other designated sources. Now only about 20 percent of the funding comes from the state’s general fund, with 80 percent raised through dedicated funding streams such as the state’s 2008 Legacy Amendment. Since that funding is tied to specific purposes, most of it cannot be used for general operations.

With all of the competition for state dollars, individual agencies cannot expect large increases — even in a year with a budget surplus. To do right by the state’s valuable parks and trails, a little more reliance on user fees and a modest increase in state funding is in order.

— Minneapolis Star Tribune, April 17