Deer Lake State Park on the budget copping block for next year

Deer Lake State Park along with 18 other state parks face temporary closure next July as part of an effort by Gov. Charlie Crist to reduce all state agencies' budgets by 10 percent for the 2009-2010 fiscal year.

The Division of Recreation and Parks chose the 19 state parks for temporary closure due to low visitation numbers and revenue compared to relatively high operating budgets, according to Jessica Kemper, public information officer for the Florida Parks Service.

Deer Lake State Park had 6,495 visitors in 2006-2007 and 5,370 visitors for 2007-2008, while the operating budgets were $44,836 and $45,479, respectively, averaging out to $7.61 spent by the state per visitor.

The parks will remain under the supervision of a full-time caretaker but will no longer be open to the public, except for special exceptions, according to Kemper.

Crist must still approve the proposed budget cuts and if he does, the closures would likely occur next July, Kemper said.

"There's not a set time for how long (they) would be closed," said Kemper. "How long (the parks) would remain closed depends on the economic climate and the state's finances."

Deer Lake State Park was acquired in February of 1996 for $13,705,681 by the Florida Board of Trustees through a deal with The St. Joe Company to purchase Topsail. The land was then leased in June of 1996 to the Florida Division of Recreation and Parks for 50 years, according to Dale Shingler, manager of Grayton Beach/Deer Lake.

Deer Lake State Park is the first two-time National Gold Medal Winner for best park. It comprises 2,000 acres between the substation on County Road 30A to near Seacrest, according to Shingler.

The cost to operate all 19 parks on the list for proposed closures is about $1.5 million.

The proposed 19 parks that may experience temporary closure are:

Yellow River Marsh Preserve State Park - Santa Rosa County

St. Marks River State Park - Leon County

Lake June-In-Winter Scrub State Park - Highlands County

Pumpkin Hill Creek Preserve State Park - Nassau County

Constitution Convention Museum State Park - Gulf County

John Gorrie Museum State Park - Franklin County

Deer Lake State Park - Walton County

Allen David Broussard Catfish Creek State Park - Polk County

Tarkiln Bayou Preserve State Park - Escambia County

Terra Ceia Preserve State Park - Manatee County

Letchworth-Love Mounds Archaeological State Park - Jefferson County

Dunns Creek - Putnam County

San Marcos de Apalache Historic State Park - Wakulla County

Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Park - Monroe County

Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock Botanical State Park - Monroe County

Dudley Farm Historic State Park - Alachua County

Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park - Okeechobee County

Nature and Heritage Tourism Center - Hamilton County

Cedar Key Museum State Park - Levy County

In addition, it has been proposed that the management responsibilities for three state parks currently managed by, but not owned by DEP will be transferred to the property owners. These three parks are:

Three Rivers State Park- Jackson County (Owned by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)

Forest Capital Museum State Park- Taylor County (Owned by Taylor County)

Egmont Key State Park- Pinellas County (Owned by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Services)