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At Least 5 Local State Parks Slated for Closure
Climbing at Point Dume | Photo by billaday via Flickr
No official list of state parks to close had been published yet, but at least five in the Los Angeles area face the real possibility of closing if partnerships are not formed to save them after Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed $39 million from the department's budget. Los Encinos in Encino, Santa Susana Pass in Chatsworth, Rio de Los Angeles in Chinatown, Point Dume in Malibu and Pio Pico in Whittier are all being considered for closure, the LA Times finds. A couple weeks ago, friends of Los Encinos State Historic Park held a large meeting to find ways to keep the park open.
“I don’t think the gravity of this situation has sunken in yet with a lot of people,” Sean Woods, superintendent of the Los Angeles sector of the state parks system, told the Times. “But the day of reckoning has arrived.”
Parking and camping fees will increase next Monday.
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