Christine Gregoire

Washington State is considering being the first in the nation to make its Parks Department self-sustaining. As recently as 2009 the legislature appropriated $94 million toward the operating budget of the state's 117 parks. But now, facing a $3 billion budget deficit, Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire is proposing cutting funding to zero."We were broke," said Marty Brown, director of the state Office of Financial Management. "Of all the entities in state government, it (the Parks Dept.) was one we thought actually had possibilities of income generation."State parks attract 40 million visits a year. Getting off the public dole will require competing for entertainment dollars, improving services while being cost-effective. In short, lifelong bureaucrats like Don Hoch are required to think like the private sector."We just started a new partnership division," says Hoch, director of Washington State Parks. "We've started marketing. We have to develop a new skill set that we've never had to ...

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