Iowa’s state parks need $100M in infrastructure repairs

• Most of Iowa's 69 state parks have restrooms, shelters and cabins that aren't handicapped accessible.
• A bill passed by the Iowa House would require the DNR to make a website and brochure of accessible features.
• Beyond accessibility, DNR staff say roofs need to be fixed, sewer lagoons replaced and new sidewalks poured.
• Iowa DNR Director Kayla Lyon asks for "status quo" budget. Lawmaker says there may be extra available to address accessibility.

Iowa’s state parks — visited by up to 16 million people a year — need more than $100 million in repairs for fixing leaking roofs and rotting shelters and updating sewage lagoons.

And many of these beloved public spaces aren’t accessible to people with disabilities. In some cases, it’s because the parks were built decades before federal accessibility standards were enacted. But even some new state park features are not fully accessible, a former state official said.

Despite the parks’ popularity and the needed repairs, Iowa Department of Natural Resources Director Kayla Lyon did not ask the Iowa Legislature this year for any additional funding. The agency is responsible for Iowa’s state parks.

“My question is: What are the legislators actually being told?” asked David Downing, who served as an Iowa DNR executive officer and parks asset manager until his retirement in January. “We're in dire straits. Everybody is afraid to talk. Nobody wants to say a word because you'll get your head handed to you.”

One of Downing’s last tasks before retirement was to prepare a presentation for district staff in November about the state of infrastructure in Iowa’s 69 state parks and four forests. The Gazette obtained this report, which included the $100 million dollar estimate, and others through an open records request. Among deficiencies identified at Eastern Iowa parks are:

Downing reported health and safety risks — such as ungrounded electrical outlets and tripping hazards — as well as septic systems and sewage lagoons that need to be replaced. Many cabins, restrooms, shelters, fishing piers, grills and tables are not handicapped accessible, he reported.

Are parks required to be accessible?

While historic state park buildings are not required to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, indoor and outdoor amenities constructed or updated since March 2012 are supposed to meet regulations developed in 2010 by the U.S. Department of Justice.

“The 2010 standards really apply when making alterations,” said Molly Wuebker, founder and owner of Uncurbed, an access consulting firm based in Des Moines, and Iowa liaison for the Great Plains ADA Center. When a structure or amenity is altered, a portion of the project budget must be allocated to address accessibility, she said. “If you’re developing a new area, then everything would need to meet those 2010 ADA standards.”

That hasn’t always happened within Iowa’s state park system, Downing said. An example is the campground at Lake Manawa, near Council Bluffs, completed in 2021 at a cost of $3.3 million.

“It's beautiful,” Downing said. It’s also “short two ADA parking spots.”

Lawsuits in other states have resulted in outdoor recreation sites improving accessibility, Wuebker said.

“Usually those changes seem to be enforced after the problem has occurred,” she said. “What's really great when you have an organization that prioritizes this. We want to prevent a problem from even happening.”

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Palisades-Kepler Park Ranger Lucas Wagner said Jan. 1 on the First Day Hike he hoped the Iowa DNR would be able to replace non-historic latrines that aren’t handicapped accessible. The pit latrine closest to the trailhead by the Cedar River is on a hill with no paved approach.

Another nearby latrine has a sidewalk, but it doesn’t reach all the way to the parking lot.

Replacing two latrines at Palisades would cost about $130,000, according to a 2019 list of 655 state park projects. These projects were given the highest score of AAA for how well they fit with Iowa DNR initiatives, return on investment and the severity of consequences if not done. But the old latrines remain.

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Piecemeal fixes

When Lyon presented her department’s budget to lawmakers Feb. 5, she asked for a “status quo” budget that includes about $7.2 million for state park operations and maintenance. The agency also keeps some user fees, such as fishing license fees.

The agency has been making some infrastructure updates, renovating campgrounds — including sewer and electrical — at Lake Ahquabi, near Indianola, and Pikes Peak, near McGregor. Pleasant Creek’s campground will be renovated this year, Lyon told lawmakers.

“Anytime we’re doing those construction projects, we incorporate those ADA things that have been identified in state parks to make sure all users have opportunities in our parks,” she said.

For other projects, like trail improvements at Palisades-Kepler, the department has partnered with other groups, including the Conversation Corps Iowa, to do the work. Friends of Palisades-Kepler is trying to raise $33,500 to help fund the effort.

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The Iowa DNR has been assessing handicapped accessibility at all state parks and has completed most of those reviews. The agency declined to provide those records to The Gazette, saying they are confidential attorney work product.

Department spokeswoman Tammie Krausman told The Gazette:

“The department is proud of its focus on outdoor accessibility, condition assessments, and work to continue to improve the state park system. We recognize and remain committed to the ongoing work needed to create opportunities for all park visitors.”

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Steps to better accessibility

The Iowa House this month passed House File 2364, which would ask the Iowa DNR to compile a list of state park amenities that are handicapped accessible and post the information online and in a brochure.

Rep. Adam Zabner, D-Iowa City, supported this legislation because he said he heard from disability rights advocates who said some Iowans struggled to plan trips to Iowa’s state parks because they didn’t know where they could find accessible amenities.

Wuebker said helping people identify accessible amenities would be a good first step. Next should be making sure there is adequate accessible parking and paved or well-maintained gravel paths to amenities, like shelters and cabins.

“If there is a bathroom there, that is the third priority,” she said. “A lot of people with disabilities will choose to not go someplace because the bathroom is not accessible.”

Wuebker is contracting with the Iowa DNR on a pilot project to see if there are budget-friendly ways to increase access to the Little Sioux River in Western Iowa.

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Is there money for improvements?

To make these changes, the Iowa DNR will need more money, Zabner said.

“My view on the bottom line of this is the state is spending a lot less money than it's bringing in and failing to give Iowans some of the resources they need,” he said.

Gov. Kim Reynolds and Republicans who lead the Legislature have said they eventually want to eliminate Iowa’s income tax after reducing property taxes in past years.

Rep. Norlin Mommsen, R-Dewitt, who is chair of the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Appropriations Subcommittee, said that while the Iowa DNR’s general fund appropriation likely will remain flat, House File 2614 could provide some money for accessibility upgrades.

The bill — most well-known because it would strip watershed authorities of some of their power — also would end the state’s bluffland protection program and revolving fund in 2030.

“Instead of that money reverting back, I redirected it to some going to radios and the balance going to accessibility,” Mommsen said. “It's not a whole lot, but it's something.”

Mommsen said the Iowa DNR had not told him and other lawmakers about Iowa’s state parks needing $100 million for infrastructure repairs. “You would sure think if that was the case it would be shared,” he said.

Comments: (319) 339-3157; erin.jordan@thegazette.com