| For immediate release June 30, 2006 BREDESEN CELEBRATES THE END OF ACCESS FEES
AT TENNESSEE STATE PARKS Nashville – Governor Phil Bredesen and Environment and Conservation Commissioner Jim Fyke visited three Tennessee State Parks today to celebrate the July 1 end of the access fee program at the 23 parks that charge them. “From the time I took office, I knew making basic access to our state parks free again was something I wanted to do,” Bredesen said. “Now we have the financial stability within the state budget to do it, and I’m thrilled to help celebrate the end of park access fees and see all our parks back on even footing. I appreciate the support of the General Assembly in approving this budget improvement, which will benefit Tennessee families and visitors to our state alike.” A $924,000 improvement in the FY 2006-2007 budget proposed by Governor Bredesen and passed by the General Assembly makes removal of the access fees possible. “We have certainly come a long way under Governor Bredesen’s leadership in the last three years,” said Fyke. “When he took office, 14 parks were closed and 23 others forced to rely on access fees to support their facilities. Today, all of our parks are open, access to all of them is once again free, and we have a staff of parks professionals that have led to us to national recognition for the quality of our parks system.” The access fee program was established in 2001 when several state parks were also closed to the public by the previous administration due to the budget crisis at that time. The access fee program, which was originally scheduled to be implemented in phases across Tennessee’s system of 54 state parks, had only been put into place at 23 parks when Bredesen took office in 2003. Bredesen and Fyke today visited Cove Lake State Park in Campbell County, Booker T. Washington State Park in Hamilton County, and Cedars of Lebanon State Park in Wilson County to raise awareness of the end of the access fee program and encourage even more people to take advantage of their Tennessee State Parks. “With a state park within an hour’s drive of any point in Tennessee, I hope more families will come out this holiday weekend and in the months ahead to really take advantage of these special places that have been set aside for their enjoyment and all the features and activities that our parks have to offer,” said Bredesen. The Department of Environment and Conservation oversees Tennessee’s 54 state parks and 75 natural areas. For more information about Tennessee State Parks, visit www.tnstateparks.com or call 1-888-TN-Parks. ###
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For more information contact: CONTACT: Lydia Lenker
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