State Rep. Fred Girod has a shining dream for the jewel in Oregon’s state park system. The Stayton Republican would like to see Silver Falls State Park become Silver Falls National Park, and he hopes to introduce a bill this year that could be a first step toward such a change.

Rep. Girod touts many potential benefits of national park status, from broader exposure to bigger budgets. Along with the added prestige that comes with national park designation, he says, comes much greater tourist appeal.

We agree that Silver Falls is a magnificent place that showcases Oregon’s scenic beauty. The nearly 9,000-acre state park, which spans parts of Clackamas, Marion and Linn counties east of Salem in the forest-draped foothills of the Cascade Mountains, is known for its spectacular waterfalls. It also has a well-developed network of hiking and equestrian trails, camping sites, picnic shelters, a lodge and conference center and other visitor amenities.

And although we agree that the discussion that Rep. Girod’s proposed bill seems sure to generate in Salem and across the state is well worth having — even if it leads to nothing more than enhanced appreciation among Oregonians of the splendor of our state parks — we just aren’t ready to endorse the idea of handing Silver Falls over to the National Park Service.

We have some questions and concerns. The first is the basic assumption that a change to national park status for Silver Falls would actually result in a significant economic boost from tourist spending. We also question whether the park’s budgetary needs could actually be better met by the federal government.

We’re concerned that the impact of losing local control of this valuable state resource has not yet been honestly considered, let alone addressed.

Silver Falls would certainly have a little more cachet as a national park than it now enjoys. Just how much of a tourism increase that would really translate into is difficult to predict.

We know that some travelers do make a special point of visiting national parks. Proximity to Olympic, North Cascades and Mount Rainier national parks in Washington, Crater Lake National Park in southern Oregon and Redwood National Park in far Northern California could help boost the annual count of out-of-state visitors to Silver Falls.

But as a state park, Silver Falls already attracts more than 900,000 visitors a year. That’s at least equal to the combined yearly number of visitors to Crater Lake (500,000) and Redwood (about 400,000) national parks.

Parks funding always is somewhat vulnerable when it comes to government budget wrangling, whether at the state or national level. According to the Sierra Club, National Park Service funding has been cut by about one-third since 2000, and the maintenance and repair backlog at national parks is estimated at $5 billion.

In Oregon, where constitutionally dedicated lottery profits help give state parks a relatively stable funding source, the budget for state parks increased by 26 percent from the 2003-05 biennium to the 2005-07 biennium, according to the Oregon State Parks Trust. And since 1999, Oregon has invested $118 million in maintenance and upgrades at its state parks.

National parks do draw from a considerably larger funding pool than do Oregon’s state parks, but if Silver Falls becomes a national park, Oregonians would have much less say in how money is spent there and how the park is run. The regulations of the National Park Service would replace those of Oregon State Parks, and it’s possible that some uses and activities we’ve long enjoyed at Silver Falls no longer would be allowed.

The wishes of people in Portland, Salem and Corvallis carry no more weight in decisions affecting a national park than those of taxpayers in Pittsburgh, Savannah and Cleveland.

Rep. Girod’s idea is worth exploring and discussing, but let’s not sign over the deed to Silver Falls State Park just yet.