Fox Ridge state park may not be forced to close, but budget cuts may affect worker benefits at parks throughout Illinois.

A shortage of money available to hire new staff members, should a large amount of workers decide on early retirement, may reduce the overall workforce at Illinois state parks.

People eligible for early retirement benefits have until the end of Dec. 2003 to decide whether to take early retirement. The fiscal year budget, which may affect that benefit, ends on June 30, 2003.

Carol Knowles, a spokesperson for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources said she is uncertain how the budget cuts may affect Fox Ridge State Park and other natural resources and said the biggest impact would be on early retirements.

Knowles said, there are currently about 400 state park workers eligible for early retirement benefits, but the number of people who will take advantage of those remain unclear.

There is no definite decision yet, but Knowles said staff members hope to know by today, the beginning of the fiscal year, whether Fox Ridge will be forced to close.

Budget cuts from the State of Illinois this year left Fox Ridge on the chopping block and talk of the park closing quickly spread.

A petition supporting the park to remain open was circulated around Eastern and various other communities.

The petition which had gained a substantial amount of signiatures was received by Brett Manning, director of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

Tim Schweizer, a spokesperson for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, said the park will remain open as they gather and analyze the budget cuts’ impact on Illlinois residents.

Schweizer said, the department’s main concern is how to best serve the Illinois residents in the upcoming fiscal year and said he hopes to keep all stateside parks open to the public.