link to complete article is here:

http://www.midhudsonnews.com/News/2009/March09/04/BvkillCmgnd_CM-04Mar09.html

Community groups unite to save the Beaverkill Campground

Covered bridge at the Beaverkill Campground

ROSCOE – The Catskill Mountainkeeper organization, the Roscoe Chamber of Commerce and the Friends of the Beaverkill are teaming up to lobby for the state to keep the Beaverkill Campground open this summer.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation last week announced the Beaverkill and a handful of other campgrounds would be closed because of low attendance and the need to save money given the state of New York’s fiscal condition.

Catskill Mountainkeeper Executive Director Ramsay Adams said the campground is a key component to the Sullivan County tourism economy.

The savings by closing the campground would be $10,000 to $15,000, said Adams. “The amount of money that the state will save in their cost they pay to keep the campsite open is greatly outweighed by the amount of money Sullivan County is going to lose in tourism dollars, and that’s just in one year.”

The state maintains attendance has been low in recent years, but Adams said that is because during the 2006, 2007 and 2008 camping seasons, the site was hit with three “100 year floods,” the main road to the site was closed or only allowed local traffic and for much of that period, the Beaverkill Covered Bridge was closed for repair, limiting access to the campsites.