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State Parks 
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- Stateline Story
National and State Parks Suffering From Budget Cuts
As summer vacation season opens, state and national parks are reeling from budget cuts. more
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- Stateline Story
Cash-Strapped State Parks Struggle to Stay Open
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT BEAT: States are turning increasingly to private money to keep their parks going, but the dollars they take in fall far short of replacing the public funding they have lost.more -
- Stateline Story
Florida Contemplates Golf Courses in State Parks
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT BEAT: Lawmakers want Jack Nicklaus to design a trail of links on public land ... California utilities don't meet a renewable energy goal ... Alaska sues the feds over polar bear habitat, and more energy and environment news. more
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- Stateline Story
New Hampshire is Latest to Weigh State Parks Sponsorship
TODAY'S TAKE: Eastern Mountain Sports, the outdoor clothing and apparel manufacturer, soon could be promoting New Hampshire state parks in its stores. New Hampshire is considering an agreement to do its own promoting in exchange, such as having all state park staff wear the company's logo on their uniforms. It's the latest example of a growing commercial state park footprint. more
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- Stateline Story
This State Park Brought to You By...
Faced with the prospect of closing parks or facilities, some states are turning to a funding opportunity long considered taboo: sponsorship agreements with corporations. more
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- Stateline Story
Are State Lands in Good Hands?
During the housing boom, some Western states turned state lands into a development bonanza. Now that development pressure has subsided, some think states should reform their land policies before growth comes back. Part one of a two-part series.more -
- Stateline Story
Some Cuts May Hit Twice as Hard
TODAY'S TAKE: As states try to finalize their budget plans for the coming fiscal year, governors and legislators must contend with the reality that some spending cuts may pack twice the punch. That's because reductions to certain state programs could come with corresponding cuts in federal matching money.more -
- Stateline Story
Register Your Car, Save a State Park
State lawmakers around the country are debating raising vehicle registration fees to save state parks, which have come under threat from budget cuts. The idea has been spreading for the past couple of years, particularly in Western states. Arizona, California, Washington, Idaho and Michigan have either recently increased fees or are considering it this year. Their proposals have picked up support from both parties, despite widespread objections to raising taxes and fees in a recession.more -
- Stateline Story
A sagebrush state shows its spirit
Idaho's governor this month has drummed up support for a statewide, citizen-led volunteer effort to rehabilitate vast areas of wildfire- scorched earth - double what has burned in California this week - by replanting the land with millions of seeds of a native shrub.more -
- Stateline Story
States, feds try to keep up with wildfires
With major wildfires burning in more than a dozen states and officials on high alert for more, authorities are scrambling to contain the blazes and keep new ones from igniting, despite unfavorable weather and strained resources.more -
- Stateline Story
States Vie for Digital Super-Highway Travelers
Click image to enlarge State tourism offices hope to lure millions of leisure seekers digitally this summer not only with practical aids -- online reservations, vacation planners, exclusive Web deals and chat-room help desks -- but also with gimmicks to entice out-of-state travelers and keep their own residents in-state.more -
- Stateline Story
Ohio to Charge to 'Park at the Park'
For the first time in Ohio history, visitors to state parks will soon have to pay a fee to bring their cars and trucks. The $5-a-day parking passes, which are projected to generate $3 million a year, are yet another indicator of the state's continuing budget problems.more -
- Stateline Story
New Governors Spell Change - Road Sign by Road Sign
The transition to a new governor is about more than handing over the reins of power or even the keys to the executive mansion. Sometimes its about pesky issues, such as what to do with 4,000 boxes of salt-water taffy that carry the name of New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey, who left office unexpectedly this year. Nine states face such delicate dilemmas as they adjust to new governors taking office. more
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- Stateline Story
Lewis and Clark Expedition Boosts North Dakota's Image
It's long been considered the least-visited state in the nation. Its image as frigid, bleak and barren has been so hard to shake that business leaders keep lobbying the Legislature to change the state name to Dakota. Now North Dakota is banking on the 200th anniversary of the Lewis and Clark expedition to put itself on the map as a tourist magnet. more
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- Stateline Story
See the U.S.A., Win a Chevrolet
It's summer vacation season, and the competition among states for tourists is fierce. No state wants to be left without vacationers and their wallets. Even with slim promotional budgets, state and local tourism officials are enticing Americans with sweepstakes and freebies to help secure their share of an anticipated summer tourism surge. more
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- Stateline Story
Music Trail Could Help Struggling Virginia Towns
Hollywood has its Walk of Fame, the world's most famous sidewalk. Southwest Virginia soon could have a music trail with highway markers to make it easier for visitors to follow the birth of country music in the Appalachian Mountains. State lawmakers look to tourism to help shore up a local economy suffering from the demise of coal mining and the loss of jobs to workers overseas. more
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- Stateline Story
Rocky Mountain Traffic Slows Commerce, Skiers
Colorados growth has led to a Rocky Mountain traffic nightmare. Interstate 70 from Denver to the ski areas gets so clogged that tourists and commerce slow to a crawl on this vital East-West link. Is the solution to widen the highway or install mass transit? more
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- Stateline Story
Budget Cuts Take Toll on State Parks
The campgrounds, historic sites and lush forests in U.S. state parks cant escape the effects of the budget crisis. State park officials report that financial woes are hacking at recreation programs and prompting fee increases, reductions in personnel and deals with corporations in parks across the United States at a time when many state officials report increases in park visitors. more
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- Stateline Story
Land Preservation Programs Survive the Ax
Even though most states face major budget problems, voters and state government leaders have shown that preserving land from development is a top priority, no matter what the cost. All across the country, expensive land acquisition programs have survived the budget ax and continue to receive full funding. more
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- Stateline Story
Pennsylvania Land Program Gets Kudos, Knocks
Pennsylvania is in the forefront of an environmental movement to preserve farmland from development, but the Keystone State program is controversial. Proponents say natural resources are being protected, but the programs critics call it a money machine for cash-strapped landowners. more