Winegrad: Maryland’s state parks are in the midst of a crisis

At a time of increasing demand for outdoor opportunities, our state parks are in crisis. Last year, 21.5 million visitors sought refuge in state parks — a 45% increase from 14.9 million in 2019. Thousands more were turned away with a record 292 closures due to overcrowding and lack of staffing. These turn aways were nearly triple the number in 2019 (101) at 15 state parks.