(Editor’s Note: This story has been updated from an earlier version to clarify the sources of funds the state park system receives.)
As he travels around the state, Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser is pitching the business community on engaging in public-private partnerships to develop underutilized land in state parks to generate badly needed revenues for the underfunded park system.
Nearly one year after the Legislature cleared the way for such P3s on state park land, Nungesser’s office—which also oversees the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism—has established a Culture, Recreation and Tourism Foundation that is now open for business and looking for investors interested in developing everything from lazy rivers and zip lines to cabins and second homes for snowbirds.
“We’re taking unsolicited proposals, but I want to take my time,” Nungesser says. “We’re looking at what fits best and want to engage the local chambers and elected officials to make sure whatever we do is a win-win for the community.”
Louisiana’s state park system gets about $15 million annually in state general fund dollars, barely enough to cover operating expenses, though it does have other revenue sources, such as fees, federal grants and statutory dedications. More problematic, it has a backlog of nearly $9 million in unfunded construction and maintenance projects.
Nungesser says when he took office, he knew the cash-strapped legislature wouldn’t be able to help the department meet its needs, so he began looking at what some 30 other states have done to fund their state park systems and worked with state lawmakers in 2017 to adopt a similar model.
It has taken a year to get the foundation up and running. Now that it is established, Nungesser says the group is open to all sorts of proposals, provided they don’t compete with existing local businesses or negatively impact operations at a state park, like a noisy go-cart track might, for instance.
“We want to do things that will enhance our parks and bring people in while also making money,” he says. “I believe in four or five years we could see this foundation get to the point where we won’t need tax dollars to run our state parks at all.”
As outlined in the 2017 legislation, the foundation, which is chaired by retired north Louisiana banker and former state lawmaker Loy Weaver, can lease from the state any underutilized, undeveloped land at a state park for 5% of its appraised value. The foundation can then sublease that land—likely at below market rate—to a developer in a deal that would include giving the foundation a cut of the proceeds from the project. Those proceeds would then go to fund park maintenance and operations.
As an example, Nungesser points to a privately run horseback riding operation at Bogue Chitto State Park in Washington Parish.
“So this guy’s going to make a lot of money doing trail rides and this allows us to do new and exciting things in the park and make some money at the same time,” he says. “I believe in a matter of years, we can relieve the burden of the state parks off the back of the taxpayers.”
Though the CRT Foundation is not subject to the same level of scrutiny or procurement regulations as would be a state agency, Nungesser vows that the foundation will not enter into any business deals that are not publicly vetted and transparent.
