Documentary highlights challenges to Arizona park system
Staff Report ~ 9/1/2010

The New River/Desert Hills Community Association will be showing a locally made documentary film that takes a look at Arizona’s state park system and discover what it will take to ensure that the parks thrive, grow and continue to enrich life in Arizona for generations to come at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 14 at Crossroads Christian Fellowship Church.
Popcorn will be served for the free event, which is open to families. Following the 40 minute film there will be a question and answer period with a variety of experts.
The documentary film “Postcards from the Parks” is an all-volunteer project led by four friends who undertook a 6-month journey to visit all of Arizona's state parks, learn what they had to offer, and how they could help sustain them far into the future. The trip came in a time of crisis in the Arizona State Parks system - after a decade of starvation funding had crippled the agency's capital budget for maintenance and repairs, and current budget cuts that have nearly dealt a death blow to the state parks system.
In March of this year, the Legislature eliminated the Arizona Heritage Fund, a voter-initiated pot dating back to 1990 that used money from state lottery ticket sales to fund parks, wildlife conservation and historic preservation.
The film, which features some of Arizona’s 27 state parks and three natural areas, includes interviews with leading Arizona citizens, park managers, visitors, and volunteers to include their insights. It also touches on the reports, academic studies, and facts about the economic and social benefits of state parks to our state, cities, and towns. For information on the film go to postcardsfromtheparks.org
All NR/DHCA community meetings are open to the public, which will run from 7:30 – 9 p.m. For information contact Terry Marron at 623-587-7039, email nrdhca@gmail.org or visit www.nrdhca.org.