‘New commitment to parks’

Improving Mississippi’s state parks is high on the priority list for two state legislators from Marshall County.

Bill Kinkade of Byhalia chairs Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks on the House side, and Neil Whaley of Potts Camp on the Senate side.

“We need help spreading the news that our parks are improving,” Kinkade said. And that certainly includes Wall

Doxey State Park, located off Highway 7 South near Holly Springs.

“Wall Doxey holds a very special place in my heart,” said Whaley, referring to family gatherings there when he was growing up. “We’re definitely looking to make our parks in the state better ­ it’s a focal point for us.”

Several possibilities for boosting the parks were tossed around during the recent legislative session. Those included privatization.

“That doesn’t mean selling them,” Whaley said. “It’s about having vendors come in and offer services — to create new opportunities for family enjoyment. It’s not a sell-off of the parks.”

Another thing pitched around was diverting about $1 million a year in sales tax collected at sporting goods stores to a new “Mississippi Outdoor Stewardship Trust Fund.”

In the meantime, a success of the session, the legislators said, was adding $3.5 million to the Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks budget allocated to the parks.

“And the process to receive a federal match, which would bring the total to $7 million, has been initiated,” Whaley said.

Kinkade said he believes “we’ve turned a corner” as far as making the parks a priority.

“It was a good session,” he said. “We were able to restore some of our previous budget cuts. But we’re going to keep trying to find more (funds).”

He, too, said Wall Doxey is a focus. He said many years ago the park in Marshall County would be full of people participating in fun outdoor activities.

“We want it to be that way again,” he said. “We want to enhance it and make it more user friendly to families.”

Many projects are either completed or underway at Wall Doxey. Those include bathhouse and cabin renovations, painting, delimbing the nature trail, replacing boards on the pier in the day-use area, repairs to campground, boat ramp, fishing pier and lake spillway structure, new motors in the campground lift station and improving shore line access.

Andre Hollis, director of park operations for the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, said many groups are assisting with the work, including the Wall Doxey maintenance staff, MDWFP R&R Crew, MDWFP Fisheries, Americorps NCCC and the county.

Volunteers with AmeriCorps were at the park working recently. They were part of the Southern Region, based in Vicksburg and came from Arizona, Oklahoma, New Mexico and California. They were finishing up their service there and moving on to Legion State Park in Winston County. They were in the final month of 10 months of service.

Hollis said MDWFP has 16 parks it is focusing on as far as repair work. “It is ongoing,” he said. “Most of all, we want the public to

know that we are open for business. We’re seeing an uptick in camping throughout the state.” Kinkade said better marketing of the parks is also a priority.

“Plus, we’ve challenged all the representatives and senators to be a part of enhancing the parks in their district,” he said. “Overall, I’m pleased with the new commitment to our parks. We have beautiful parks in our state, and we have to make the continued commitment to make them better.”

Whaley agreed — saying it is time to put the lack of attentiveness to the state parks in the rear-view mirror.

“Seeing the state of our parks is heartbreaking,” Whaley said.

“But at this point, our parks are not going to do anything but get better. That’s a promise that I’ve made, and I intend to keep that promise.”