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Funding for Chinsegut Nature Center will not be cut by the state, thanks to a strong showing of support.
By JEFFREY S. SOLOCHEK
© St. Petersburg Times, published October 23, 2001
Chinsegut Nature Center, once considered a prime target for state budget cuts, has survived to see another day.
Neither the House nor Senate included the center's annual $90,000 appropriation in its proposed reductions, which were released within bills Monday, state Sen. Ginny Brown-Waite said.
"When the various departments were asked to come up with a 5 percent cut, this was one of the suggested cuts," Brown-Waite said. "It's not in with what the Legislature is considering."
Center director Kristin Wood was working on a list detailing every group that had visited and every program offered in the past five years when she got the news Monday. She was preparing the paperwork to document the center's value in hopes of protecting it.
"I guess I can plan for the future," Wood said. "We were told to plan as normal, but it's in the back of your mind because you don't know if next month you'll be somewhere else."
She said the Audubon Society, the school district and other groups were circulating petitions to keep the center active.
The center serves school and community groups in Hernando, Citrus, Sumter and Pasco counties.
The main building at the center was built in 1986 with the help of $31,000 donated by Lisa von Borowsky, one of the founders of Hernando Audubon. Steve Fickett, also an Audubon member, helped convince state officials in the early 1970s that the 408-acre parcel north of Brooksville should be used for conservation. It was originally owned by Col. Raymond Robins, who owned Chinsegut Hill, and had been donated to the federal government when he died in the mid 1950s.
Despite the center's popularity, the state Bureau of Wildlife Management initially targeted Chinsegut because it was not a perfect fit for the agency's stated mission, director Nick Wiley said. It appeared near the top of the bureau's five-year budget reduction plan.
Local lawmakers lobbied heavily to keep the center open, said Brown-Waite, R-Brooksville, who also is the Senate president pro tempore.
"I'm sure not only did they hear from the legislators, they also heard from the people who care for Chinsegut," she said. "Their voices were heard."
Wood was thrilled.
"I certainly didn't think it would happen the first day (of the legislative session)," she said.
"I guess that means the center is a go. So that's exciting."
-- Information from Times files was used in this report.