Now even the staycation is feeling the economic pinch. New York State Parks will be opening pools later in the season and closing them earlier, and keeping various lake beaches, including the popular Lakes Welch, Sebago and Tiorati closed on certain days, too. Here’s the news coverage.

This is on top of service trims this winter after the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation saw its current budget cut after its high season, so there was little it could do but shutter many of its facilities. The cuts for this year are designed to save $5 million in operating costs. (And, of course, the cancellation this summer of the Empire State Games was due to budget contraints.)

The pools, parks and lakes are popular with local families and camps, including many New York City programs that give kids a taste of nature. The cuts are far from ideal, and hit Rockland, which is one third parkland, pretty significantly.

Jim Hall, executive director of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission, which oversees state parks in the Palisades region that includes Rockland, didn’t mince words. He told staff writer Khurram Saeed:

“People would like and expect the parks to be open and will be frustrated by some of these cuts.”

Cutting back on state parks is just crazy. At a time when individuals are barely hanging on to their jobs and homes, the state lawmakers have decided to close park facilities – the most basic and inexpensive places for recreation.

Has it occurred to (State Parks Commissioner Ash that with the economic downturn, state park facilities will be in even greater demand? … Many folks have had to cancel cruises and trips to Europe. These families will still need a place to visit nearby. Why not plant the seed corn, let it grow and flourish, and make some money for the state in the process? It doesn’t seem like a great mystery to me.

2005 file photo: Emily Sprinkle, then 5, of the Bronx, plays at Lake Welch Beach in Harriman State Park.