Urgent: Save California’s Parks!

As you may have heard, Governor Schwarzenegger has proposed closing 220 of our state parks in order to reduce the state budget deficit. You can read more about this proposal and the threatened parks in the links below, but let me summarize by saying that it is a bad idea and one that has the potential to forever change California for the worse. Closing our state parks would cost California more in lost tourist revenue than it would provide in budget savings, it would endanger the health and safety of Californians by increasing fire risk and criminal activity within park boundaries, and it would deny us access to public land for low cost recreational and leisure purposes, when clearly such options are needed now more than ever.

Andrew Molera State Park

First off, the $143 million that state parks currently receive in funding is less than one-tenth of one percent of the entire state budget. According to the California Sate Park Foundation (CSPF), for every dollar that funds the parks, $2.35 is returned to the state's General Fund through economic activities in the communities surrounding the parks. California would lose $350 million in revenue should the proposed park closures be approved, money that would have otherwise been invested in local communities that depend on the parks for their economic prosperity. California’s appeal as a tourist destination depends largely on the beauty and diversity of its natural environment. With closed parks, tourists would be unable enjoy California’s natural beauty and would likely invest their tourist dollars elsewhere in the United States and abroad.

California parks are maintained and patrolled by dedicated park employees who manage to do a lot with few resources. If parks were to be closed, then facilities such as bathrooms, buildings of historical importance, and campsites would be degraded and damaged. Trails would be reclaimed by vegetation and dead timber and brush would build up and create a fire hazard. Fires, which occasionally occur in wilderness areas, seldom occur in existing parks because they are effectively managed. Individuals that continue to use parks after they have closed would exacerbate this fire risk. A single fire in one abandoned state park could quickly nullify any budget savings resulting from the proposed closure of 80% of our park system. We all know regular maintenance saves money, whether with a car, a house or a state park. Fire risk notwithstanding, if we let our parks close and decay we can expect that they will be very expensive to bring back into working order. Given that many don’t want to pay tax for the park services and facilities they currently use, it might prove politically challenging to reopen our parks in the future.

Garrapata State Park

State parks are the primary providers of convenient and affordable access to California’s stunning natural beauty. Our parks protect a variety of Californian ecosystems and provide habitat for plants and animals that have been displaced by human development and activity elsewhere. They also preserve California history by maintaining structures and artifacts, and operating museums that tell stories of California’s past. When a park closes it means that people who enjoy and wish to preserve and protect our natural spaces will be kept out, while others will see the lack of stewardship and management of our parks as an opportunity to engage in illegal activities such as poaching, squatting, and drug trafficking within their boundaries. Furthermore, many individuals in local communities are unlikely to accept the closure of their parks and will thereby risk being cited, fined, or imprisoned for continuing to use public land. Those who do obey the rules will find themselves living in a beautiful state with no access to its wonderful natural resources. Californians statewide will be forced to drive by state parks containing trials where they previously enjoyed hiking or biking, beaches where they swam, surfed and dove, rivers and lakes where they fished, and campsites where the spent the night under the stars.

Clearly, the governor’s proposal is not based on sound financial data, the health and safety of Californians and its visitors, an appreciation of nature, or a proper understanding of natural resource management. So let’s posit for a moment that the governor wants to close state parks in order to privatize them. Well, the facts line up perfectly with this hypothesis. Close the parks, let them decay and become areas of crime, scare the public and intervene with a major police operation in a high profile problem park, reap the political capital by appearing strong on crime, and then propose to sell our blighted state parks to developers to make room for hotels and luxury homes with beachfront, mountain, valley, lake or river views that now only the rich will enjoy. If one park were to fall to privatization, it will set a legal precedent that would facilitate the privatization of future parks that could result in the demise of our park system. That is the worst case scenario, though I do put my faith in others to join me to oppose the park closures that could set this ball rolling.

Point Lobos State Natural Reserve

One suggestion that would prevent our parks being closed is the implementation of a California State Park Access Pass which would provide all California residents unlimited access to all state parks via a fifteen dollar surcharge on vehicle license registration fees. This would provide an estimated $363 in annual net revenue for our state parks which is more than the $143 million they currently receive in funding from the General Fund, which is proposed to be cut by half through June 2010, and then eliminated entirely the following fiscal year. Not only will this provide significant additional funding to increase staffing and make needed park improvements, it would be a bargain for the public. With recent fees hikes, park users pay between six and eight dollars, and in some cases ten dollars a day for parking. Californians who visit state parks at least twice a year have received a benefit equal to or exceeding the fee paid for the California State Park Access Pass, and will save money with each additional visit they make.

Protecting our state parks is our responsibility, so please do your part and take fifteen minutes to write a letter, send a postcard, or call Governor Schwarzenegger, your state assemblyman, and your state senator to let them know how you feel about proposed park closures and to voice your support for the California State Park Access Pass as a solution to saving our parks. Below are the necessary links to facilitate your communication and provide you with more information on this vitally important issue. Note: the California state legislature will be voting to approve a budget soon, so it is important that you express your political will ASAP in order to influence their vote.

Click here for a map of proposed park closures and a list of California state assemblymen and senators to contact to protest the governor's proposal.

Click here to take action by donating to CSPF or to join the CSPF group on Facebook.

For more on the California State Park Access Pass, click here.