Recently, Linley learned of a new category in which the Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park takes top honors. The park was the most profitable in the state park system last year, with figures showing it earned $808,965 beyond expenses.

Linley, who is park manager, credits higher attendance and growing gift shop sales as two of the main reasons for the designation. In the previous year, the park, which used to be known as the Homosassa Springs State Wildlife Park, was No. 4 on the profitability list.

In 2000, park attendance grew by about 10 percent, topping 287,000 visitors. Over the past five years, attendance has risen 40 percent. "There's been a strong economy and all of the state parks have seen an increase. Statewide we're approaching 19-million visitors annually," he said.

How long the park will see such growth is uncertain. The number of visitors has plummeted since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Only a handful of people passed through the ticket counters that week because of both the attacks and the tropical storm moving through the area at that time. This week the numbers have also been low, park officials say.

Linley said that September is the slowest month of the year anyway and he is predicting that there will not be a long-term downturn in the park's attendance because of the attacks.

"I believe we will recover from this ... I don't feel the park itself will have a serious impact. But then, I am an optimist," he said. "The value of state parks will be even greater than they have been in the past. People are just going to want to get outside."

Linley said increasing interest in the environment and relatively low entrance fees of $7.95 for adults and $4.95 for children have also made the park attractive.

"People are finding that they enjoy the pace of their visit to the park," he said. "There is a stark contrast from the Orlando attractions to Homosassa."

A more relaxed pace and a virtual army of volunteers also complete the picture. While the park has 31 full-time workers and five seasonal employees, there are more than 300 volunteers who work in and around the park, making it the largest volunteer group in the state park system as well.

All those extra people contribute to the park's ambiance.

"The atmosphere of the park is another intangible," Linley said. "We try to provide good old Southern hospitality, and we've worked very hard to open up our home to the visitors."

The addition of a second gift shop at the park's U.S. 19 visitor center has also helped. Merchandise sales have more than doubled, from about $400,000 in 1994 to $866,000 last year.

"We're trying to put ourselves in the position so that we have something when they want to take home, something to remind them of their experience," he said, noting that sometimes that might be a $3 pencil with the park's logo for some and for others a $1,000 piece of artwork.

The park's profitability is not something that Linley said he worries much about, since profit is not listed as part of the park's mission. He noted that the profit figures derived by the state don't really tell the whole story, since some statewide services provided to the park by the state have not been figured into the number.

Still, at a time when there has been discussion on the state level about privatizing some state park functions, the bottom line is important.

Since all the revenue earned by the parks goes into the State Park Trust Fund, for Homosassa Springs to be able to bring in more than it pays out means that it is able to provide much-needed funding for other state parks that cannot generate enough to pay their expenses.