The cut to the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Places would affect the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, which uses state parks for coursework and research. ESF has a history of involvement at Chittenango Falls State Park and Clark Reservation State Park, both of which are set to close under the proposed plan.

“To have these kinds of facilities and resources, it’s so important, and it would pretty much be a devastating loss to our campus if they closed,” said Diane Kuehn, a professor of forest and natural resources management at SUNY-ESF.

Park funding has been restored in the New York State Senate and will now move on to the Assembly. But Paterson and the legislature still have time to reverse the restoration.

There was a rally Saturday at Clark Reservation in protest of the park closures, which Kuehn attended. The event was put on by the Sierra Club, the Council of Park Friends and the League of Conservation Voters and drew a crowd of more than 700 people.

“I’ve never seen the parking lot so full,” Kuehn said. “There were people of all ages, from little kids to seniors.”

Allan Drew, a professor of forest and natural resources management, takes students in his forest ecology and natural resource ecology classes to Clark Reservation State Park.

“I’ve taken students there in the past, and I’ve also done research there so the closing of Clark would be difficult,” Drew said. “I’d have to find another lab for the course and it would close off a good site for the research I do.”

By switching to a new location, ESF students and faculty wouldn’t be able to build on the years of background knowledge they have at Clark Reservation, Drew said.

Throughout ESF’s years of partnership with the state parks, students have been involved in effectively controlling invasive species in the parks. If the parks were to close and students were no longer able to help the controlling effort, there could be consequences, Drew said.

“If the park were to close for a year or longer you’d have no control over invasive species for that period of time,” he said. “You want to stay on top of the invasive species because once it’s out of control, it’s too expensive to control.”

The parks are also important to the surrounding communities. The Council of Park Friends runs a summer program at Clark Reservation that is open to the public and offers information about the area’s plants and animals, as well as guided walks with naturalists, Drew said.

“It’s an enriching kind of experience for the community,” he said. “To close the nature center it would mean that all of that would disappear.”

Because there aren’t any national parks in New York, the state parks fill the public demand for outdoor recreation, Kuehn said. A reduction in outdoor activity areas could increase the already problematic levels of obesity in the state, Kuehn said, as well as cripple the small businesses that rely on parks to attract visitors.

Along with using the parks for coursework, many ESF students are involved with the state parks on an individual basis.

Matt Brincka, a graduate student in the forest resources management and recreation management program, volunteers at the central region parks to help control invasive species and works with Syracuse schools to educate children about the environment.

Both Chittenango Falls and Clark Reservation state parks are home to species that are not found anywhere else in the world, Brincka said. ESF has the unique opportunity of being able to observe and research these species. But Brincka said she is worried about their future.

“The big question is what will happen to these species if the parks shut down,” Brincka said. “If we lose that area, we lose that species.”

But Tom Hughes, natural resource steward biologist for the New York Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, remains optimistic that even if the proposed parks close, research will be able to continue.

“We have some very important natural resources within our parks and we have federally protected species within our parks,” Hughes said. “So we have an obligation to continue to support and protect those species.”

Aside from the academic losses that would occur if the parks closed, students would lose a valuable source of recreation, Brincka said. With the parks located so close to campus, students are able to enjoy the area’s scenery and hiking, he said.

He said he believes students will look elsewhere for outdoor recreation if Chittenango Falls and Clark Reservation state parks close, which would increase traffic in other local state, county and city parks.

“I could see Green Lakes getting more crowded, and I think that would create a negative experience,” Brincka said.

Both students and faculty have written letters to Paterson to voice opinions on the closings, Brincka said.

“I forwarded the e-mail address to his office to a bunch of people, and they’ve paid it forward,” he said.

The central region parks are an important part of the state’s history, Brincka said, and if the parks close their unique histories could be lost.

While ESF could lose Chittenango Falls and Clark Reservation state parks, there is still plenty to be done at other area parks, like Green Lakes State Park, Hughes said. He remains hopeful that the partnership with ESF will only get stronger.

“Regardless of what happens with the parks closing,” he said. “We would continue to enhance and sustain our partnership with ESF and its students.”