Lake Monroe boat ramps to stay open

Boat ramps at Lake Monroe and other reservoirs across the state will not close on Monday after all, officials with the state Department of Natural Resources said.\nThe ramps can remain open because the department instead absorbed the impact of state budget cuts by reducing maintenance at the sites. The department, however, plans to impose a self-payment program beginning next Saturday at selected ramps.\nJohn Goss, department director, said the self-payment approach, which requires boaters to deposit a $5 daily launch fee in locked boxes, could generate enough money to ease a budget crunch for the ramps.\n"But without the cooperation of Hoosier boaters we will face the same problem again," Goss said. "Unless the launch fees are paid at the boat ramps, we will surely have to close some of our facilities."\nState officials said in February that they would be forced to close some of the state's 48 boat ramps as part of a round of spending cuts imposed by Gov. Frank O'Bannon. Closing ramps would save money by reducing staff needed to monitor and maintain the ramps.\nFour boat ramps at Salamonie, Huntington and Mississinewa lakes were closed in the spring and will not reopen.\nThe department planned to close additional ramps by the July 1 start of the state's fiscal year, but the department instead looked for other ways to save money, such as reducing maintenance at the ramps.\n"It was enough to allow us to keep all our ramps open for the season," said Bruce Whiting, assistant property manager at Lake Monroe.\nAt some lakes, citizen groups adopted boat ramps, assuming responsibility for mowing and picking up trash. A high school Future Farmers of America chapter and a boating group adopted two ramps at Patoka Lake.\nWhiting said the self-pay program will operate largely on the honor system. Boaters will put their $5 in an envelope, fill out some information and put it in a box. The envelope includes tear-off tags that boaters place on their dashboards.\nGreg Sorrels, property manager at the department's Raccoon Lake State Recreation Area, said a self-pay system has worked well for off-season camping at the Parke County property.\n"I think there's tremendous potential," he said. "Folks, I truly believe, are interested in giving the DNR a helping hand"