Gov. Walker budget would ax tax funds from Wisconsin parks

MADISON (AP) — Gov. Scott Walker is proposing that Wisconsin cut state tax funding for its parks system and make up for it by raising campsite and entrance fees.

The Wisconsin State Journal reports Walker's spending plan would remove $4.6 million in tax funding from the budget for the state's parks, trails and recreation areas. Tax revenue makes up about a quarter of the current $16.7 million parks budget.

The price of an annual state park pass would go up by $3 to $28, and nightly campsite fees would rise $2.

Philip McKnelly, the former head of the National Association of State Park Directors, says efforts by a handful of states to make parks self-sustaining have largely failed.