News 12 at 11 o'clock / Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2012

THURMOND LAKE, S.C. -- For many people, time is money and that's what they'll be losing if they want to go to the lake this year.

"Over the last six years, we've lost over 20 percent of our recreation budget," said Scott Hyatt with the Army Corps of Engineers.

This year, $100,000 is getting cut from the recreation budget and that means many campsites will open later and close sooner.

Broad River will be open March 15 through Labor Day.

Mt. Carmel and Clay Hill will be open April 1 through Labor Day.

Big Hart, Hawe Creek, Hesters Ferry, Modoc, Raysville, Ridge Road, and Winfield will be open April 1 through Sept. 30.

Parksville, West Dam, Lake Springs and Amity will be open May 1 through Labor Day.

Boat ramps at Parksville, Lake Springs and Amity will stay open all year.

"It's a tough decision how to best serve our customers," Hyatt said.

The Army Corps of Engineers says a shortened recreation season is better than any other option.

"Closure is the last thing you want to do," Hyatt explained. "You don't want to close something unless you're prepared for it to be closed forever. Partial closures don't really save you much money because you still have to turn the water on. You still have to turn the lights on."

Hyatt says it's people like Hank Allen who help keep those lights on for the recreation season the lake still has.

"We work at the visitors center, and I also work outside marking trees and walking Corps of Engineer lines," Allen told News 12 in an interview back in December.

Allen is a volunteer. (You can read more about the volunteer program here)

"We have increased our use of volunteers exponentially," Hyatt said. "We've more than doubled the hours that we get out of volunteers."

And without those hours of free labor, Hyatt says you would see more closures.

"The parks wouldn't be nearly as clean, nearly as well kept as they are now," Hyatt said.