ELLENVILLE � As the state grapples with high costs and low revenues, officials in Albany have been looking in every nook and cranny to cut expenses, including state parks. With one list of parks that might be potentially closed already released, the recent announcement of a second list of parks in danger of closure � which includes Minnewaska State Park and Preserve � has many local residents concerned.

As a cure to the state's financial crisis, Governor David Paterson has been taking the axe to New York State's Park system. A $29 million cut in funding to the Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation (OPRHP) is in the Governor's proposed 2010-11 executive budget.

"Over the past three years," said Eileen Larrabee, a spokesperson for the Office of Parks, "our budget has been cut 35 percent."

It's a rare organization that can sustain that kind of reduction in funding and still offer full service. "The problem is that 85 percent of our budget goes to operating the parks."

So, as Carol Ash, the Commissioner of the Park System, warned last month, this further cut means that parks will close.

The State Parks office first released the aforementioned list of 41 parks and 14 historic sites that would be closed, but these were mostly small parks, ponds, and buildings.

However, the second list offers real pain for the Shawangunk Ridge region. If it proves to be true, Minnewaska Park could be shut this summer. The park staff would be sent elsewhere and there would be perhaps just a single person monitoring the park.

The proposal to close the parks, of course, is not a done deal.

"It is contingent on finding the funding," said Larrabee. "The governor wants to take funds from the Environmental Protection Fund and Open Space Acquisition to keep these parks open. If that cannot be achieved, then the park would shut."

Assemblyman Kevin Cahill said, "I am outraged that the administration is continuing to play politics with institutions so integral to our regional character and economy."

Cahill vowed to fight back. "This proposal is a non-starter. The very act of holding the Environmental Protection Fund hostage is not only bad politics, it diminishes confidence people have in it as a dedicated fund for environmental protection and conservation."

John Adams, a local environmental advocate, said "I'm hoping that this is just politics, and that they really don't intend to let Minnewaska close."

Larrabee offered some hope that it might remain "just politics." "This is still in play," she said. "It's all part of the budget negotiations and I believe they will stretch over the next few months. If the funding is found, then Minnewaska would be open. If the legislature rejects the funding source, then Minnewaska would not be open this coming summer season."

Assemblyman Cahill said, "No one has ever balanced a budget by closing a park. I stand firm in my opposition to these proposals and will continue to fight to keep these sites open."

"There's always going to be something that seems more urgent or needs to have money spent on it than the environment," concluded Adams. "That's why we have to be vigilant and let our voices be heard."