Budget mess felt at parks

ALBANY - While visitors will find more state park gates shut this winter as a means to save money, they'll still be able to walk, snowshoe or ski in to most of those 325,000 acres scattered from Long Island to Niagara Falls and up to the Thousand Islands.

In designated parks, they'll still be able to snowmobile, and some tracts will still allow hunters with special permits. Mostly what will be missing are staff, special services and campgrounds. All but two parks will be closed to visitors at night. The cabins and cottages at Allegany and Letchworth state parks in western New York are scheduled to stay open all winter.

“Unless you're told otherwise, parks are available for day use,” said Eileen Larrabee, parks spokeswoman. “They're public grounds. But at the same time we have a concern for the safety of patrons, and we also are always concerned about vandalism.”