Payson Chips in to Reopen Park

The city of Payson is chipping in to reopen Tonto Natural Bridge State Park for Memorial Day and on weekends through June.

Payson lawmakers agreed to pay for the additional seasonal staff needed to reopen the park, which closed as a result of budget cuts and the need for repairs.

“We needed to increase the park staff by two people each day to cover those weekends,” said Janet Hawks, chief of operations for the state parks.  “Our seasonal staff rate of $11 per hour is what will be charged to the City of Payson.  The two seasonal rangers will be added into the system in the other parks, which will allow me to release regular park staff to return to Tonto for those weekends.   We will also have our regular volunteers and hopefully some new volunteers to help out this summer.”

The contractor working on repairs will help decide where visitors may safely travel in the park.