A plan to shutter two state prisons could have a dramatic effect on the Western Slope town of Rifle far beyond the 57 jobs that would be lost.

That's because inmates from the Rifle Correctional Facility, a minimum security honor camp, provide meals for Garfield County's halfway house system and crews that clean the city's parks and administration buildings and work in a state fish hatchery.

Gov. Bill Ritter, in an effort to balance the state budget, proposed closing the Rifle prison and the Colorado Women's Correctional Facility in Canon City - part of $823 million in cuts.

The two prisons employ 131, but all of those workers will have the option of transferring to other jobs within the Colorado Department of Corrections.

For those who work in Canon City, the impact may be minimal because they can transfer to another prison within 75 miles and may not have to move.

"I doubt those people who live here are going to go anywhere," said Doug Shane, executive director of the Canon City Chamber of Commerce. "It seems more likely they would just transfer to another prison in the same DOC prison complex, so they could still go to work down that same road."

But in Rifle, all of those workers who want to stay with the state will have to move.

Although closing the prisons will save some money - $600,000 next year in Rifle, for example - the moves would help the state budget's bottom line in other ways. The land in Rifle and the water rights associated with it can be sold for an estimated $5 million.

The proposal sent a ripple of anxiety through Rifle.

Annick Pruett, president and CEO of the Rifle Area Chamber of Commerce, said the cuts, if they become reality, will shake the town located along Interstate 70 between Glenwood Springs and Grand Junction.

"From the state perspective, I guess I understand," Pruett said. "From a local perspective, however, there's a lot of families that are going to be impacted.

"You certainly never want to see that within your own community. There are no easy budget cuts."

On the one hand, there is the potential loss of jobs - and community members - in a town of 8,700 people.

"These are people who own homes here," Pruett said. "These are people who shop locally here, send their kids to school here. A little bit different than if it's energy related, and they're here for six months and then they move on.

"These are residents who have a long-term stake in this community."

As for the prisoners, Pruett said, "They are being productive citizens in the community, so that's an impact that I don't think people have taken into consideration yet."

State Sen. Al White, a Hayden Republican and member of the Joint Budget Committee, wants to see if there is some way to save the Rifle facility in his district.

The closing comes as the number of working oil rigs and the number of drilling applications are declining in the area, meaning that a number of Garfield County residents already are losing their jobs. Shutting down the prison would send unemployment numbers even higher.

"I think it's a bad idea," White said. "I think this is shortsighted on the part of the Department of Corrections to try to close that asset."

Staff writer Ed Sealover contributed to this story.