Wanted: Good Places to 'Park'

Is It Just Me, or are parks and nature preserves among the best things that ever happened to this country?

My real interest in these public properties came rather late in life -- in fact, shortly after I officially retired from my newspaper editor's job. It was right about then that my husband, Jack, started getting serious about photography, and in particular, taking pictures of lighthouses. But what about me? I thought. Of course, I could (and would) take lighthouse photos myself on our travels, but then we'd end up with dozens of photos of the same subjects. And what's the point to that?

Right about then, I happened to pick up a brochure describing the wonders of Ohio's state parks -- and inspiration hit. My goal, I told Jack, was to get photographs in all of them.

In all honesty, it isn't likely to happen ever, for two important reasons: First, I added Ohio's wonderful state nature preserves to the list, more than doubling the number of places to see. Second, the bulk of our travels take us outside the Buckeye State, so now we make it a practice to visit as many state and national parks as we can no matter where we are. As I write this, in fact, it's the eve of our four-day trip to West Virginia, where we'll stay at the lodge in Hawk's Nest State Park and branch out to see Babcock State Park and its much-photographed mill.

I'm fortunate in that respect to live where I do; within an hour or so, I can be in one of at least eight state parks and one national park in Ohio and Pennsylvania. And arguably the most impressive park -- Mill Creek Park in Youngstown, Ohio, is almost in our backyard.

For those who don't know, the Mill Creek Metropolitan Park District, with approximately 2,600 acres, 20 miles of drives and 15 miles of hiking trails, is one of the largest municipally owned parks in the country. Established in 1891, the park property is part of four Mahoning County, Ohio, watersheds: Mill Creek, Yellow Creek, Meander, and Yankee Creek. Major attractions include lakes and wetlands, a par-3 championship golf course, many picnic and recreation areas, the historic Lanterman's Mill, the Ford Nature Education Center, Fellows Riverside Gardens and the D.D. and Velma Davis Education & Visitor Center. Nearby MetroParks Farm and Yellow Creek Park offer additional educational opportunities. With so much going on there, it's a rare week that my husband and I don't spend at least a little time there.

Over the last few months, I've been saddened by news that California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger plans to shut down 48 state parks. Closer to home comes news of budget cutbacks in the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Parks and Recreation (reportedly, the division's 2008 budget is 48% less than in 2000). Admittedly, it's unlikely that I'll ever get to California, but lots of other people enjoy the parks there; obviously, I'm concerned about Buckeye State parks.

It's always tough to make do on less, but right now seems a particularly bad time to be tightening the pursestrings. As the cost of gasoline skyrockets, it seems logical to me that more people will turn to community, state and national parks closer to their homes for summer outings. That prospect made me happy till I read a newspaper column by a local outdoor writer, who agreed with my belief but pointed out some serious downsides. More people, he wrote, will mean even more wear and tear on our parks -- and little money to keep everything in good working order. It won't take long, he pointed out, before people decide they don't want to stay in a campground that has no overnight security, or where the trash barrels haven't been emptied for weeks on end and the grass is 6 feet high.

He's absolutely right. I'm not sure which is more distressing -- that our parks stand to fall into disrepair or that visitors stop coming -- but I know the outlook isn't good from my vantage point. As I said at the outset, these natural resources are one of the greatest assets our country has. It is absolutely essential that we protect our public lands from ruin so future generations can enjoy them as much as we have.

Or Is It Just Me?