For years, the various museums operated by the Division of State Parks have been the poor stepchild of the state parks system. They were at the bottom of the priority lists for funding and more often than not among the first to suffer budget cuts in lean years.
It was a situation that devastated the morale of understaffed museum curators and made state museums a laughingstock among museum professionals. "If it didn't have a boat ramp, they (park administrators) weren't much interested in it," said one former parks employee.But a renaissance, of sorts, has occurred over the past year within the Division of Parks and Recreation. Museums and historical sites are now competing with other parks on equal footing for money to improve and expand, ranger positions are being replaced with curator and interpretive positions, and virtually all of the state's museums have begun the process of national accreditation that could restore some of the luster.
"There is a totally new focus in the division on heritage parks," said Karen Krieger, who was hired in December as the division's first-ever heritage park coordinator. "Attitudes are changing from the top on down."
The top, in this case, is Courtland Nelson, who was appointed parks director in March 1993. Nelson immediately made heritage parks a top priority in the division, which is better known for managing fishing reservoirs and regulating off-road vehicles.
The state currently has 10 heritage parks scattered across the state: Pioneer Trail State Park, Fremont Indian State Park, Anasazi State Park, Edge of the Cedars State Park, Fort Buenaventura, Iron Mission State Park, Territorial Statehouse, the Field House of Natural History, Camp Floyd and Veterans Memorial Park.
At least four other parks have cultural resources that are or will be interpreted by park staff: Deadhorse Point, Escalante, Wasatch Mountain and Antelope Island.
The shift in emphasis toward education and interpretation is more than just attitude, Krieger says. Several heritage parks are undergoing extensive remodeling or expansion, nature trails are being built at others, and eventually all state parks will have interpretive kiosks offering information on state centennial activities and the history of the park. Some parks will get visitors centers.
A few years ago, the division upgraded park curators' salaries and eliminated the requirement curators must pass law enforcement training to become park managers.
"Everyone is excited about the prospect for change," Krieger said. "Rangers are interested in putting up interpretive signs and putting in nature trails. At Bear Lake, for example, they are talking about preserving and interpreting a log cabin. (Park employees across the state) are seeing chances to realize goals they have held for years."
The focus, she said, is placing curatorial and interpretive responsibilities on the same footing as "lawn mowers and tractors." She hopes the process is a long-term initiative to raise the quality and professional standing of the state's museums.
For example, Krieger recently lobbied for thousands of dollars for professional-quality metal storage cabinets for three museums - and got it. Those types of purchases would have been an exception to the rule five years ago; now it's increasingly standard fare.
Krieger's goal is simple: raise the quality of the state's museums to national standards. "The goal is accreditation. None of them has finished the accreditation process, but it has been initiated at most of the heritage parks."
The park closest to national accreditation is Edge of the Cedars State Park in Blanding, which has been expanding to become a federal repository for archaeological artifacts. Part of the accreditation process is the hiring of a curator of education - which the park did at the expense of a ranger position.
"It's part of the commitment the division has now toward heritage parks and resource interpretation," Krieger said. "And that commitment is evident throughout the system."