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Mo. State Parks cutting jobs

By Marshall Griffin, St. Louis Public Radio

Jefferson City, Mo. – The Department of Natural Resources is cutting more than 100 jobs within the Missouri Division of State Parks.

Today's announcement comes a week-and-a-half after Governor Jay Nixon's Budget Director revealed that more budget cuts were on the way.

DNR spokesman Travis Ford blames the job cuts on the continued decline in state revenues.

"This is a mixture of jobs across the board, in the office here in the Jefferson City headquarters building, throughout regional offices, at park locations themselves...unfortunately, no area is unaffected by this," Ford said.

Ford also says it'll be about three weeks before it is known how many of the job cuts will involve actual layoffs.

"There are a lot of details that still have to be worked out on exactly who is affected, how many vacant positions are being eliminated, versus positions that are occupied by full-time and part-time employees," Ford said.

The job cuts are expected to save the state park system about $3.5 million this fiscal year, and more than $6 million per year thereafter.

Ford adds that the cuts have nothing to do with the E. coli controversy that has plagued the Nixon Administration the past few months.

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