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If Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposal to cut 80% of state parks for two years from the budget----that's a $143.4 million in savings--the public is officially verboten from using those lands, according to state officials. "We rely on the public to be respectful," explained Sheryl Watson, an Information Officer with the California State Parks. "We are asking the public not to go into these parks that are closed."
If the cuts are approved, the parks will lose their staffing and close after Labor Day. There will be no water or electricity and bathrooms and visitor centers would be shuttered. When funding comes back to park system--and there's no guarantee it will be in the 2011/12 budget year--they won't open immediately because the state will have to hire thousands of people and bring the parks back up to par.
"It's a very real situation we are facing, the state budget is in dire straits," Watson said. "If these parks close, it would be devating to the state park system."
59 of the 279 state parks will remain open under the proposal. Some of those saved are considered "self sustaining." All of the department run parks in the Los Angeles region would close. However, a handful of Orange County beaches, Crystal Cove and state owned, but locally operated parks will remain open, including Castaic Lake, Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area, Santa Monica State Beach, Will Rogers State Beach and the Watts Towers of Simon Rodia State Historic Park. A full list of proposed closures and those to remain are below:
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Thanks for posting this. I've had a hard time figuring out which are the few parks to remain open.
Nice to know the recreational vehicle areas are all staying open. So people who want to tear shit up and destroy nature will be able to do so without the economy hindering them.....
Grumble.
By the way, if you enter a state park, you can be arrested for tresspassing. If there were any staff left to arrest you, of course....
(a CLOSED state park, that is!)
Exactly, rdm. There is no way the state parks people will have the funding/staff to fence in these huge parks.
However, if you park your car at a closed park, CHP will be in full force to ticket/tow/molest you. Whatever the normal protocol is for those situations.
Of course, surreptitious hiking is one thing. I'm more worried about poachers, vandals, and other neerdowells.
Goodbye, Palomar Mountain State Park, hello Palomar Mountain Pot Farm!
this is horrible ... with all the wealth in this state? OVERTURN PROP 13, BITCHES!
Seriously.
I wonder behind the scenes maneuvering this proposal is trying to take attention away from. People, state/national parks are just like public broadcasting, politicians will always threaten to eliminate funding to cause an uproar, while boards and chairs that affect the management of their funding get completely remade in less than positive ways. Ugh is right.
Have I watched too much crime dramas on television, or does anyone else feel like there are going to be a lot more crime scenes in theses areas now that there will be no one staffed to monitor the parks?
This is a genuine tragedy, and I don't use that word lightly. Our state parks and California's natural landscape is one of our true state treasures, and I have to believe that a lot of these closures are short sighted. How much in tourism dollars will CA lose if over half our SP camping areas are close and folks know we're generally inhospitable for camping/hiking/nature trips? I understand that we need budget cuts, but how can locations such as Julia Pfeffer SP be closing - I couldn't get a reservation there all last summer because it's in the Big Sur region. Heck, I couldn't even get a reservation at Carpinteria for a quick weekend trip away. There's a ton of demand for access to these SPs, especially as people focus increasingly on frugal vacations.
I am deeply saddened by this possible turn of events.
Hi Dreaming,
Since you asked...
For every $1- the government spends on State parks, $2.35 goes back to the general fund from sales tax in local economies and the park stores.
State parks drive $2.9 billion in economic activity in local communities.
If parks are closed California loses big time in so many ways.
I can't believe this is happening. This makes me want to cry.
The Governor said it himself. He is threatening to do it to rattle lawmakers. I really don't think much analysis has gone into this proposal.
Bob B.
Leucadia
http://www.anzaborrego.net
If Parks get closed, it's employees that make $10 an hour will not only be out of a job, they will lost their home. To make up for the lower pay rate, they are allowed to live on park property for a huge reduction in rent. So I guess the Governor will need to evict them as well as lay them off. Is there cost savings from paying workers $10 per hour vs. paying them unemployment rates? How does that make sense?