When Hugo Lake lost its state park status in 2013, the state cited low attendance and budgetary needs. Its managing agency said the park had only attracted 3,000 visitors the prior year, although the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said it saw more than 100,000.
In recent years, tourism numbers have skyrocketed in Southeast Oklahoma. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has put new development on hold at nearby Beavers Bend State Park because its lake is over capacity for boating. George Burns, the Republican Senator from nearby Pollard, says a park at Hugo Lake will provide an alternative.
“With making this a state park, people that would be wanting to come and vacation would go to Hugo's State Park,” Burns told the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Burns estimates it will take $4.3 million to get Hugo Lake State Park back up and running; the Oklahoma Tourism & Recreation Department initially said it would take $6 million more. Burns says that was for a road tourism officials said needs replacing, but the Oklahoma Department of Transportation told him it could be repaired for cheaper.
Last year, the Tourism Department released a study saying it needs $350 million for infrastructure repairs at existing state parks. But state parks generate millions of dollars in state and local taxes each year, and bring millions more to local businesses.
The Senate voted to approve Burns’s Senate Bill 1252, which would turn all properties at Hugo Lake back over to the state. It now heads to the House of Representatives.
