Auditor Jim Zeigler: state needlessly closed sixth state park, Rickwood Caverns
State Auditor Jim Zeigler claims the Yellowhammer state has needlessly closed yet another state park. Marking the sixth state park to close since October, Rickwood Caverns State Park in Warrior, AL quietly closed Monday with no plans to re-open. According to Zeigler, the park had did not need to close as it internally generated 85-90 percent of its necessary operating expenses. “The fees and sales of the parks come close to enough to make the parks a break-even proposition,” Zeigler explained. “With better management, the parks can be self-sustaining, needing no tax dollars and being no burden on the state’s general fund.” Zeigler claims the Rickwood closure blocks one of the oldest Veterans graves in Alabama. That of Revolutionary War Sgt. Alexander Burns who is buried within the park. Burns, who died in 1829, and family donated the land to the state park, and the closure hinders his living relatives from visiting and maintaining the graveyard where he and other family members are buried. The AG will discuss his efforts to re-open the six state parks closed by Gov. Robert Bentley‘s administration at the Mobile Kiwanis Club Wednesday.
