Oracle State Park in the northern foothills of the Catalina Mountains was closed two years ago because of deep budget cuts to the park system. But a group called Friends of Oracle State Park is providing enough money to re-open the park part-time next year.
Renee Bahl, the departing director of Arizona State Parks, says the partnership between the group and the state agency is part of a larger effort to make the park system more self-sustaining.
Oracle State Park will re-open for three months in spring of 2012, and again for three months in the fall. Weekdays will be reserved for field trips for schoolchildren.
The park encompasses 4,000 acres of oak woodland and desert grassland.
It and several other state parks closed in October of 2009 after state lawmakers slashed the park system’s operating budget. The other parks have since re-opened on abbreviated schedules.
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