And now, Plan B.

The state Department of Land and Natural Resources, as promised, has unveiled its backup plan to fulfill one of its vital responsibilities — to maintain and improve the state's parks, small-boat facilities and other recreational resources.

No doubt, there will be grumbling. Plan B helps pay DLNR's repair and maintenance bills by passing more of the cost to the customer through additional and increased fees, as well as income from leases and rents.

However, Plan B is a product of economic and political necessity — the state coffers are bare and the Legislature refused this year to approve up to $40 million in bonds to help seed the longterm maintenance and improvement plan.

And the work needs to be done. Relentless budget-cutting has hampered DLNR's ability to ensure that its public facilities — park restrooms, trails, harbors and the like — are kept safe, clean and attractive. The result: deteriorating facilities. "Quite frankly, it's an embarrassment," said DLNR's deputy director, Russell Tsuji.

He's right. But while Plan B is no permanent solution — DLNR acknowledges that some of its repairs will be quick patch jobs until it can get more support from the Legislature — the plan adopts some sensible, businesslike solutions.

Parking fees for eight popular parks — for tourists, not locals — as well as increasing fees for boat mooring and camping/cabin permits, are reasonable steps. Some fees haven't been raised in at least 10 years.

Plan B would promote volunteerism, from basic cleanups to ambitious efforts like rebuilding of Polihale State Park bridge.

To encourage park use — and raise more revenues — DLNR wants to develop one-stop permit shopping and billing, with a single Web site that accepts credit cards. This basic improvement is long overdue.

So are DLNR's plans to adopt model repair and maintenance standards, and software to manage its work more efficiently.

The Board of Land and Natural Resources approved Plan B on Friday. Assuming DLNR can show progress, the Legislature should reconsider its refusal to grant the agency the bond authority it seeks, to pay for long-term improvement the state's unique recreational resources. It would be a worthy investment.