The Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism stands to lose millions of dollars after record spring rains led to park closures, property damage and washed-out roads.
In most of Kansas, the rain started in early spring and didnt stop until the end of June. High water levels at reservoirs (where most state parks are located) inundated campgrounds, boat docks and roads.
Were not talking about for a week. Parks Director Linda Lanterman said. Were talking six weeks, eight weeks … so the damage is significant until you can get that water down.
The timing couldnt have been worse for Kansas state parks, which depend upon revenue during what Lanterman calls the Million-Dollar Months May, June, July and August to stay afloat for the rest of the year.
But state parks failed to reach $1 million in each of those months this year. In May, the parks brought in $981,586 compared with $1,065,033 in 2018. The dropoff was even more severe in June, when revenue was $568,743 compared with $1,563,780 in 2018.
Understanding how important these months were, several parks managers tried to stay open until campgrounds were inaccessible. Lanterman said she had to tell a few parks they had to close earlier before floodwaters made it impossible to remove cabins and other equipment.
While parts of a few state parks in eastern Kansas (Perry and Milford) are still flooded, preventing the department from fully assessing the damage, most opened up by mid-July. With the rains gone, the park system made more than $1 million in both July and August from boaters and campers.
Who would have guessed? Lanterman said. Not me.
But theres still the issue of repairing damage: Floodwaters have cracked boat docks, washed away gravel from roads, filled restrooms with silt and removed chunks of land underneath concrete campsites and picnic table pads.
The flooding is also going to kill a lot of trees in the state parks.
Dozens of acres of trees have been underwater for months, which means the roots arent able to get the oxygen they need.
We can see clearly they are starting to decline and go downhill, said Ryan Armbrust, a state forest health specialist with the Kansas Forest Service.
When trees die, especially at this scale, it can have a major impact on the local ecosystem. Armbrust said trees provide shade and homes for animals, and also reduce air pollution. That wont come back until the next generation of trees.
Hes also worried about what will grow back in place of the lost trees.
What forest regrows in that area may not necessarily be as functional or as high-quality as what was there before, he said.
