Isaac's damage to state parks pegged at $7 million

Hurricane Isaac caused more than $7 million in damage to state parks in south Louisiana and forced some into months-long closures.

Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne, who oversees the state parks agency, told The Times-Picayune that the damage estimates are based on preliminary surveys.

Dardenne says Fontainebleau State Park in Mandeville and Fairview-Riverside State Park in Madisonville bore much of Isaac's wrath. The two St. Tammany Parks account for more than $3 million of the damage.

The lieutenant governor says he doesn't expect Fairview-Riverside to reopen until late this year.

At Fontainebleau, which in recent years has had millions of dollars of renovations and upgrades, things were worse. Dardenne says cabins there will remain closed for at least six months.