Widow's hefty donation to Arizona parks is poached

[azdesertfather]

Widow's hefty donation to Arizona parks is poached
by Casey Newton - Jan. 4, 2010
The Arizona Republic

In their latest effort to solve Arizona's budget crisis with cuts, lawmakers turned to a woman who couldn't make a fuss. After all, she has been dead for eight years.

Alta Forest, a Danish immigrant who fell in love with Arizona after moving to Fountain Hills with her husband, left nearly $250,000 to the Arizona State Parks Board when she died of cancer at age 82.

When parks officials received the money in 2003, it was the largest private donation the parks system had ever received. They were unprepared for such a large gift, said Ken Travous, who served as state-parks director for 23 years before retiring in June.

"We had never received anything of that magnitude before," he said, adding that he began "looking for something that was big enough to really make her proud."

While parks officials considered what to do with the money, Arizona's budget deficit ballooned into the billions. Last month, when the Republican-led Legislature met in special session to cut $140 million from the budget, it swept up half the money in the parks system's donations fund, which included most of Forest's donation.

"It was like they had kicked me in the stomach," Travous said. "Surely, I thought, they have some shame. But they're shameless."

Legally, a parks spokeswoman said, the Legislature can take any donations that have not been earmarked for a specific purpose, such as restoring trails or acquiring land. But donations like Forest's, along with any money tossed into the donation coffers found throughout the parks system, can be reappropriated by lawmakers.

Forest's friends said she would have been devastated to learn that her donation will not go to support the parks system, but instead to pay for operating expenses, such as building maintenance and electric bills.

"She would have been totally nauseated," said Roger Essenburg, a close friend and the executor of Forest's estate. "She would have never have given the money if she had known the state was going to take it way from the parks board."

Born in Aalborg, Denmark, in 1919, Forest immigrated to the United States in 1950 with her first husband, Will Timm, a German scientist who worked for NASA. She learned English out of a dictionary, memorizing 10 words a day, friends say.

Timm died in 1971, and four years later, she married engineer Edward Forest. They moved to Fountain Hills in 1990, where Alta Forest worked as a dental assistant and an office manager.

The Forests never were rich, friends say, but they were prudent with their money and saved carefully. Edward Forest died in 1993. In her last years, Alta Forest became involved in a variety of other causes.

Friends say she called Arizona her "Garden of Eden."

"She just loved everything about Arizona - its beauty and all the natural scenery," Essenburg said.

Reese Woodling, chairman of the state-parks board, said officials now are reconsidering the way they solicit donations. Woodling wants to make sure money donated to parks stays there, particularly given that budget cuts could close up to half the state's parks in the next six months.

"We'll do whatever we can to keep those donations flowing in," he said.

"For our Legislature to take that money and not give it a second thought is unconscionable."

[chumley]

More today...

Budget sweep may thwart Mesa Grande opening
by Jim Walsh - Jan. 5, 2010 11:39 AM
The Arizona Republic

Workers finished installing a new trial through the Mesa Grande Ruins that will someday become the backbone of the pre-historic site's development as a tourist attraction.

But the timing of the next step, the installation of an audio interpretation system and shade structures to protect against erosion, remains in doubt as authorities brace for a legislative dive into monies earmarked for heritage projects.

Tom Wilson, director of the Arizona Museum of Natural History, said the decomposed granite trail, designed to blend into the natural surroundings, was completed on schedule by KLASS Services of Goodyear at the end of December.

Wilson and others who have labored for decades to the develop the west Mesa ruins are hoping to unveil the trail at a grand opening scheduled for March 27, when the Mesa Grande Community Alliance holds its annual free pancake breakfast at the park.

But he said the museum could lose up to half of the $100,000 Arizona Heritage Grant that was used to fund the first phase of the long-awaited project. The Legislature is expected to "sweep" the Heritage grant funds as it deals with a projected $3.4 billion budget deficit in 2010. A slump in sales tax revenues during the recession contributed heavily to the deficit.

The Arizona Parks Department receives up to $10 million a year from the sale of state lottery tickets for a variety of projects. The Mesa Grande ruins improvements are designated as an Arizona Centennial Legacy Project because of its lasting impact on the state's history.

But soon after the museum was awarded the $100,000 grant, the money was frozen as part of severe budget cuts at the state parks department. When the funds were reinstated this fall, Mesa officials rushed to use the money as quickly as possible before they get rescinded again.

"It has caused disruption of the project," Wilson said about the state budget cuts. "It just makes the project harder to complete."

Despit their unique historical value as a Hohokam religious site, the city has struggled to develop the ruins since paying $1.1 million for the the 5.6 acre site at Brown Road and 10th Street.

The ruins date to A.D. 1300. They include some of the largest and best-preserved Hohokam temples along with living rooms and a common area that resembles a community room. The ruins also believed to have played a critical role in the operation of Hohokam canals for irrigation of crops.

Walter "Dutch" Duering, an associate curator of anthropology at the museum, said the Valley is believed to have been the home of 70 to 80 similar mounds in prehistoric times, but only two intact examples remain - Mesa Grande and Pueblo Grande in Phoenix.

He said the trail was "laid out to minimize damage and maximize visitor experience."

When the audio system is installed, visitors will be able to dial a number on their cell phones and complete a narrated tour, said Bert Stobl, also an associate curator of anthropology.

"This will be very high tech and very low impact," Stobl said.

[Jeffshadows]

They should call Giffords. She somehow managed to finagle $300K out of the feds for Saguaro NP, recently...

[dysfunction]

probably easier to get the feds to fund a national park than a state one though.. unless you're California.

[chumley]

All a rep has to do is threaten to not vote for healthcare reform. The feds will find money to pay for any project(s) that'll buy the vote back.