POULSBO — Nestled neatly off State Highway 3 on the Hood Canal, the already popular Kitsap Memorial State Park received some extra attention Wednesday.

State officials, and park staff and volunteers officially dedicated four new cabins at the park, which became ready for public use in March.

“They have been very, very popular and answer a great need campers have been seeking for years,” said park manager Seth Mason.

The cabins themselves were completed in December and park staff worked until March to furnish their interiors, Mason said.

Washington State Parks and Recreation Commissioner Joe Taller congratulated the park staff on a job well done after touring the structures.

“Anything we’re going to do is going to be a quality level and the staff is committed to making it something for family and kids,” Taller said.

The cabins set the standard for how the rest of the state’s parks facilities should be, he said.

“This is an example of an objective we started a few years ago,” he said, adding that the parks commission has plans to upgrade state parks across Washington in preparation for its centennial celebration in 2013. The objective is to have 200 similar cabins in parks facilities across the state.

“We are going to make it, and here we can see the results of that effort,” Taller said.

State parks director Rex Derr said he is proud to be the director of the state’s system and being able to work with the parks commissioners.

“They are helping guide the parks through a centennial of service to Washington and are getting ready to step into the second century,” Derr said, noting that the state’s parks department is the fourth oldest in the nation.

“The state parks department is engaging the public in new and different ways of getting people outside to camp in non-traditional ways,” he said.

The cabins, which each feature a three-person bunk bed, a futon, microwave and refrigerator are one of the ways the parks department is finding to meet that need, Derr said.

As 23rd District State Sen. Phil Rockefeller (D-Bainbridge Island) toured the cabins, he remarked on how such amenities will help visitors more fully enjoy the state parks system.

“Actually more people are coming to parks, and it is important to have assets in safe, quality condition,” Rockefeller said.

With the state Legislature repealing the day-use fees for state parks, a big challenge is finding ways to fund the ongoing operations and maintenance costs, he said.

“One of the things our citizens of our state expect us to do is maintain it, and we’re going to make sure we can do it,” Rockefeller said.