If the Idaho State Parks & Recreation Department got no replacement for the gas tax money it's now receiving for off-road recreation, it'd lay off 10 people and endanger programs that now result in grants to local government entities - $32 million over the last 20 years - and pay for everything from  snowmobile trail grooming to boat ramps to trails to fixing roads and bridges at state parks. Dave Ricks, acting state parks director, told a legislative task force today that tourism is Idaho's third-largest industry, and brings $3 billion a year into the state's rural economies. The loss of recreation funding would impact that, he said.  

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