BOISE -- Sand-boarding concessionaires and ATV riding at Bruneau Sand Dunes State Park are among cash-boosting ideas being discussed to help the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation achieve self-sufficiency.
Agency director Nancy Merrill said Monday she needed to explore all her options, after budget writers set her austere $30.4 million 2011 budget.
Her spending plan starting July 1 includes a nearly 80 percent drop in general taxpayer funds and raiding $3.4 million from maintenance reserves and a recreational vehicle registration program to make ends meet.
Prices for campers and others using Idaho's 30 state parks are also being increased.
No other state park system has completely weaned itself from taxpayer funding.
But Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter has put Merrill under pressure to at least try, while keeping all 30 parks open.
