Tonto Natural Bridge, north of Payson, is the largest natural travertine bridge in the world. (Courtesy: Red Nelson)

PAYSON (NAZ Today)– Once again, a state park that has been slated to close on several occasions due to the State of Arizona’s budget woes has been granted a reprieve.

Tonto Natural Bridge State Park, a few miles north of Payson, was slated to close next month.  The Town of Payson and private donations have conributed money on several occasions over the past year to keep the park open, despite a lack of funding from the State of Arizona, forming a type of public/private contract to keep the park open.

This week, several groups pledged $35,000 to help keep the park open for another year. Contributions from the Town of Payson, Town of Star Valley, and the Friends of Tonto Natural Bridge contributed money to extend the park’s 5-day-a-week schedule through September of 2011.

Payson mayor Kenny Evans says that his town’s contribution is a small investment compared to the economic return the park has on the region. “For more than a year now we have been subsidizing the park to be sure it stays open. This State Park attracts 90,000 visitors to the area and generates $3.6 million per year in spending for all the surrounding communities,” said Evans. “It is clear that our $20,000 investment will return millions to the economy and can’t afford to lose a tourism attraction of this magnitude.”

Mayor Bill Rappaport of neighboring Star Valley agrees. “Our town leaders have voted to join the effort to keep the park open. We feel it is crucial because Star Valley’s planning area is 100-square-miles and we are all dependent on tourism,” explains Rappaport. “Those thousands of visitors are extremely important for businesses so we have set aside $5,000 in our budget this year to support the State Park.”

Friends of Tonto Natural Bridge President Bill Ensign says that his group has committed $10,000 which was earned by volunteers through various fund-raising activities. “We are thrilled to be part of the solution to help the businesses in the surrounding towns and encourage everyone to come and enjoy the world’s largest travertine bridge, ” said Ensign. “We also welcome any new financial support that can help us keep the Park open into the future.”

In June in 2009, the state’s Parks Board considered closing 13 state parks due to budget shortfalls. Tonto Natural Bridge had been closed earlier in the year for repairs.  The Town of Payson reached an agreement to reopen the park, and proposed to run the park’s operations if the state Parks Department shut down.

The park was reopened on a 5-day-a-week schedule in November from a weekend-only schedule.  The Town of Payson funded the part time employees who were working at the park.

In January 2010, the State Parks Board again voted to close 13 parks, including Tonto Natural Bridge.  The park was scheduled to close on June 3rd if an Intergovernmental Agreement between Payson and the Parks Board could not be continued.  Payson offered to contribute up to $30,000 to keep the park open through September.

In June, the State Parks Board approved the final million-dollar payment to a former private owner of the park, with the Town of Payson providing $24,000 to allow the park to stay open through September, with today’s pledge of $35,000 securing the park’s operation for another year through September of next year.

Arizona State Parks generate roughly $266 million in economic benefit to rural economies each year, according to Arizona State Parks spokeswoman Ellen Bilbrey. A recent Northern Arizona University study shows that Tonto Natural Bridge’s 90,000 annual visitors raise around $3.6 million for the local economy each year, which includes the towns of Payson, Star Valley, Pine and Strawberry.

The park, located 10 miles north of Payson, was closed due to budget cuts until Payson on May 22 funded part-time positions necessary to keep it open at least on weekends throughout the summer and now until Nov. 15.

Beginning on Nov. 19, the park will be open Thursdays through Mondays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

The park’s historic lodge has been under structural repair since Feb. 26 and will remain closed due to additional internal construction projects.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.

“This budget is a 27% reduction from FY 2009 and approximately 25 – 30 employees will be laid off throughout the agency. Some parks operations will be reduced to high season
months, five-day a week, or be open only for special events and other uses.

The  Tonto Natural Bridge State Park will only be open on weekends through the month of October.   Six of the state parks will switch over to the new five day a week schedule.  The parks will be closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.  These parks include: Fort Verde State Historic Park, Oracle State Park, Tombstone Courthouse State Historic Park, Tubac Presidio State Historic Park, Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park, Yuma Quartermaster Depot State Historic Park.  These changes will become effective as of October 1, 2009.

Now all of the funds to operate the State Parks department must be earned through gate fees or come from the remaining conservation funds,” said Executive Director Renee Bahl. “In November the Board will also be voting on the park user fee proposals made by the staff. To increase revenues, we will work with the Treasurer’s office to modify our investment
strategies to maximize interest income.”

“Our goal is to keep as many parks open as possible and draw the 2.3 million visitors to the parks so they spend their vacations in Arizona and support those rural economies. The
State Parks $266 million economic impact in tourism is critical for these towns and we are meeting with local governments and private sector partners to help keep the parks open as much as possible,” said Bahl. “We are also seeking volunteers to assist with some of the day-to-day operations at the parks and welcome the public’s input on how to keep the park system operating during these dire times.”