How often do you go camping?
HEBER SPRINGS, Ark. (KTHV) -- A sign of tough economic times.
Almost all federal agencies have taken a hit and that includes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The Little Rock District of the Corps operates 178 public parks and access areas -- and a number of the sites in those parks, will be closing this year.
It's part of tightening the belt on the federal level.
The Little Rock District of the U-S Army Corps of engineers announced 29 parks will face some sort of a reduction and that includes closing 248 camping sites out of the 1,227 sites available at Greers Ferry Lake.
Joe Harper is the Chief Park Ranger at Greers Ferry Lake.
"In my tenure with the Corps we haven't had to do these type of closures. But it cycles. You can look back 15 or 20 years ago, or 20 to 30 years ago, and you can see the cycling through the paperwork," Harper said.
But he says with a number of the sites closing, it's a boost for privately-owned campgrounds, given the popularity of Greers Ferry.
"The local community, the private campgrounds and things like that is going to offer them a lot more opportunity when we are actually at capacity to actually overflow into those types of facilities," Harper said.
One camping area around Greers Ferry Lake: Mill Creek will have all 39 of their campsites closed, but the boat ramp will remain open thanks to volunteers.
"To let them do the litter pick-up and the mowing of that area to keep the boat ramps open for that access. So that's a win for us. We look at having very few dollars associated with that. The local community is actually picking up that and running with it for us," Harper said.
And he wanted to reiterate that despite the reductions, the majority of the campsites around Greers Ferry Lake will remain open this season.
"Typically in the past we've started around April 1st. We're starting about May 15th. Although we are having camping opportunities year-round, we're not opening most of our parks until May 15th here at Greers Ferry Lake," Harper said.
The cutbacks are slated to save nearly two million dollars annually - it will save nearly a million dollars on operation and maintenance expenses, and another million will be saved on labor.
Senator Pryor issued this statement on January 18:
"As we reduce government spending, we must prioritize services and make tough budget decisions. At the same time, I know that closing these campsites is bitter news for both the families who enjoy camping and the businesses they support. I will work with the Corps to ensure the system for selecting which sites to close is fair and that there are ample opportunities nearby to enjoy Arkansas's outdoors."