This story appeared in the June 24, 1987, edition of the Lewiston Tribune.
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The Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation will ask this fall to take over two Dworshak Reservoir campgrounds from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
One, the Three Meadows Group Camp built at a cost of more than $1.2 million, has never been opened to the public, parks Director Robert E. Meinen told the Idaho Legislature’s Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee Tuesday during a tour of Hells Gate State Park near Lewiston.
The group camp probably could be paying its own way in five years, he estimated.
Freeman Creek Campground, the other site sought by the state, could be paying for up to 65 percent of its operating cost in four years, he estimated. Startup costs would be about $200,000 for both the first year and $120,000 in subsequent years, he said.
Leasing the two campgrounds would require approval of the Legislature and the governor’s office, but it could be an asset to the state if people only knew about the reservoir and recreation possibilities there, Meinen said.
The Nez Perce Tribe at one point had agreed to manage the group camp, which has space for about 70 dampers in cabins and a lodge, Meinen said. After the tribe withdrew last year, the University of Idaho Extension Service expressed some interest, but that also has gone nowhere, he said.
“Push hard,” Sen. Herb Carlson, R-Eagle, advised Meinen.
But if some legislators looked favorably at the high-use, relatively profitable campgrounds, there was a suggestion of less support for those needing some investment, such as Winchester State Park, which has had a 40 percent decline in visitation over the past six years.
Maybe the state should quit putting money into park’s, such as Winchester, that don’t pay their own way, Carlson said.
That would leave the state with a very few good parks “and a bunch of dregs” Meinen said.
Then maybe the state should get rid of some of the dregs, said Sen. Atwell J. Parry, R-Melba, co-chairman of the budget committee.
“At what point do we stop spending taxpayer money for something for a Small number of people,” Parry said. “ ... We’ll give it back to the Indians or give it back to the city of Winchester and in the long run save some money.”
Winchester could regain usage if water quality was improved, thus improving fishing, and if it had the developed campgrounds favored by many of the older people who make up the largest share of visitors there, Meinen said.
He pointed out the state manages sites for a number of specific reasons, including historical value. Some of the smaller areas are popular, but will never recover expenses.
“Winchester is an example,” he said. “I’d hate to leave you with the feeling that Winchester should be surplused out.”
Three state parks were closed during the 1982 state budget shortfalls. Indian Rocks is still closed, and if a concessionaire can’t be found, possibly should be disposed of, Meinen said.
Three Island State Park was reopened because of public pressure and Malad Gorge now is open on a seasonal basis, he said.
Legislators also toured the North Idaho Children’s Home at Lewiston. The state contracts with the home to serve emotionally troubled youngsters. This year, the state is paying $1,523,200 with the bulk of the operations cost coming from federal sources.
About 60 percent of the home’s residents come from Idaho, with two-thirds of those from southern Idaho, director Mark Hopper said. The remainder come from other states.
Average length of stay in the new special care unit for the most severely disturbed children is six to eight months. Some of those graduate into the less restrictive residential program where the average length of residence is 10 to 12 months, Hopper said.
