The Oregon State Parks department is facing a 14% budget shortfall in the next biennium, officials revealed to OPB. To avoid cuts, the agency said it’s looking for new business partners. That could include everything from new zip-lining operations to tree-climbing tours and unique lodging.
One current partner, Leo Fischer, runs Tree Climbing at Silver Falls, a small business that, as the name suggests, takes people to climb old-growth trees in Silver Falls State Park.
He explains his operation while dangling from one of 16 ropes hanging off a 500-year-old redwood.
“Our most popular tour is the half-day old-growth tree-climbing experience,” Fischer said. “They get two demonstrations of how to do the ascending and repelling. Then they get suited up with personalized equipment.”
They do a couple of practice climbs, then it’s 200 feet up the old-growth redwood.
The cost is about $150 per person, so it’s not a massive money maker. But Fischer sends state parks about $3,000 a quarter. That’s 5% of his total revenue, essentially in exchange for the use of the trees, the parking lot and port-a-potties.
“It’s something, right?” Fischer said. “And if I’m just one of many, it really adds up.”
With Oregon State Parks facing its budget shortfall, it wants more people like Fischer to start new businesses in the state’s parks.
The agency has three basic funding sources: camping and RV fees, lottery money, and concessions, which include businesses like tree climbing tours, cafés, boat docks, cabin rentals and youth camps.
To fill the shortfall, state parks are increasing camping and RV fees and adding more tent and yurt spaces. Since the agency can’t do anything about lottery income, increasing the number of concessions and offering sponsorships are the only other ways the agency can boost the bottom line.
Lisa Sumption, the director of Oregon State Parks, said they’ll entertain all kinds of ideas.
“It could be zip-lining. It could be rope climbing,” Sumption said. “People want very unusual, unique stays, right? Well, what if you stayed in a jail cell for the night? For fun. And it was open, and you could leave.”
That jail cell stay could be at the old guard house in Fort Stevens State Park. Sumption said the building is just one example of the kind of historic park property that a business could turn into a successful operation, whether it be a unique Airbnb or a themed restaurant.
“I really just want someone to help me maintain those historic structures,” Sumption said. “I don’t have the money to do it.”
Sumption regards a historic structure without a business as a liability. But if there’s a business in it, the building produces revenue and gets maintained, all at little to no cost to the agency.
Sumption said Fort Stevens is also a good example of why state parks are facing a 14% shortfall: There are dozens of historic buildings that need maintenance at the park, as well as campgrounds for 5,000 people.
“We do all of the power. All of the water. All of the sewer. All the enforcement,” Sumption said. “We’re like a little city within a city. We’re bigger than the city of Warrenton that it’s in.”
And those city expenses just keep increasing. Fort Stevens uses a literal semi-truck load of toilet paper every year.
“There’s a lot more visitors, there’s a lot more strain on the system,” Sumption said.
Oregon has about 250 state parks with all kinds of locations that might make good businesses: from lighthouses to kids’ camps to old ranches. But working with the state comes with a particular set of challenges.
For example, the agency tends to only sign concession agreements for five or 10 years. That’s not long for a new business owner who wants to recover costs and become profitable.
Fischer is interested in opening a new tree-climbing attraction. But he said the environmental reviews necessary to ensure he’s not damaging old-growth trees or scaring away spotted owls can be burdensome.
“The first time we got permits here, to work at this park, it almost took three years,” he said. But he enjoys a good working relationship with the agency.
“In some ways, there’s less barriers to working with the state, especially if you’re doing a guiding business, because you have access to these beautiful lands and you don’t necessarily need a lot of capital to start up that business,” Fisher said.
“It’s not like buying a building to start a restaurant.”
Oregon State Parks is also trying to be more business-friendly. Sumption said the agency was recently exempted from some state procurement processes.
“It certainly is going to make it a lot easier,” she said.
But talk of adding new park businesses has some wondering how much is too much. Is the state going to end up with a fast food restaurant at the entrance to every park?
Chris Gilland, who manages Silver Falls State Park, said the line is clear: Visitors should be coming for the natural attractions, not the concessions.
“All of the companies. All of the food. That’s bonus. That’s extra,” Gilland said. “And once that line gets crossed, where it’s the reason people want to come, I think that’s the line we don’t want to cross.”
Chelsea Sims, the director of Friends of Silver Falls, thinks there is room for more concessions. But not too many.
“There’s definitely a line,” Sims said. “Where that line is I don’t know. We don’t want to be the Silver Falls Mall of course. It is public land and we want it to be a peaceful place for people to come and recreate.”
The Parks has had concessions for years. But adding more is a big change for the agency. Spokesperson Stefanie Knowlton said to get it right, they’re sending out a survey.
“What is it that people value most about parks?” Knowlton asked. “What do they most like seeing? What do they want to see more of? Do they have ideas in terms of what would be some avenues to pursue?”
Last year, 54 million people visited an Oregon park. That’s an all-time record.
But without new revenue streams, the agency said it will likely need to cancel park expansions, reduce staff and maybe even close a few parks in 2027.
This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.
