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OR.PAC DRAFT Issues <br /> 11/12/92 Meeting <br /> Page 2 <br /> C. Infrastructure Maintenance & Rehabilitation • <br /> Across Minnesota recreational facilities are deteriorating or need <br /> rehabilitation. Many of these facilities were build in the 1960s and 1970s; <br /> some even were built in the 1930s. Heavy recreational use overmany years <br /> have caused many of these facilities to deteriorate. While public officials <br /> have continued to fund development of new facilities, often maintenance of <br /> existing facilities has received less attention. The need for additional <br /> maintenance and rehabilitation touches on all types of facilities from the <br /> primitive to the urban. The need also extends across facilities managed by <br /> federal, state, local, and private organizations. <br /> Because funding is a critical issue for all types of public programs in the <br /> 1990s, there may be a need to determine whether maintenance and <br /> rehabilitation or new development should receive a higher funding priority. <br /> C1. Maintenance and Operation of Existing Outdoor Recreation <br /> Facilities (issue #5 from the 1990-1994 SCORP) <br /> Minnesotans have made substantial investments over the past 25 years in <br /> developing one of the finest outdoor recreation systems in the nation. <br /> Unfortunately, many state and local outdoor recreation facilities are rapidly <br /> deteriorating due to their age, increased use and vandalism. In recent years, <br /> funding for facility repair and preventative maintenance has been <br /> insufficient to reverse this disturbing trend. <br /> Maintenance and operations funding for units of the state's outdoor <br /> recreation system has remained relatively constant during the 1980s, despite <br /> the eroding effects of inflation, salary increases, cuts in base-level funding, <br /> increased operating expenses, and costs resulting from growing visitor use <br /> ana new facility construction. As a result, visitor safety and satisfaction are <br /> being jeopardized, and public services have been reduced. . . . <br /> D. Loss of Open Space &Associated Opportunities. <br /> Across Minnesota open space suitable for outdoor recreation is being lost. <br /> Commercial, industrial, and residential uses, for example, are reducing the <br /> availability of natural environments suitable for outdoor recreation. In other <br /> cases outdoor recreation opportunities are lost for other reasons. For <br /> example, abandoned railroad grades present ideal sites for trails, yet some <br /> never become trails due to lam of coordination among public agencies or <br /> funding. In southern Minnesota as well, public lands to pursue a variety of <br /> outdoor recreational activities from hunting, trail-riding to bird-watching are <br /> scarce. Across the state, there is need to purchase properties for recreational <br /> activities or secure easements with private or non-profit landowners to gain <br /> recreational access or open space preservation. In some rural areas which <br /> are rapidly developing there is a need to secure natural lands so that these <br /> areas retain their character and natural amenities which made them <br /> desirable to new residents. <br /> The loss of open space is interlinked with the decline of the land and water • <br /> base supporting outdoor recreation. Pollution, improper land use controls, <br /> water contamination, compacted soils, diseases (oak wilt) and exotic species <br />