If the 70 state parks close that are scheduled to close by 2012, to help close the nearly $10 billion budget deficit, it will be the first in the 84-year history of the state park system--the nation's largest.
Sixty state parks are partially closed while 90 more have experienced severe reductions in services, said Elizabeth Goldstein, president of the California State Parks Foundation, a nonprofit advocacy group.
Officials are brain-storming on ways to keep the parks open, including a bill that would make it easier for nonprofit groups to take over some park operations. But the bill is unlikely to keep all the parks open.
Other suggestions include raising campground fees, already at record high levels, and charging higher day use fees. In the meantime, budget cuts have resulted in deferment of basic repairs to structures and trails (photo: Sonoma Coast State Park trail) as well as reducing the number of days parks or campgrounds are open. Read the entire WSJ article.
UPDATE: Activists representing more than half of the 70 state parks targeted for closure braved broiling temperatures Tuesday (June 21) in Sacramento to rally at the Capitol building. Park supporters have also been writing letters to state legislators to ward off the closures.
There’s pending legislation in the state legislature that could help to keep the parks open. AB 64 and AB 42 are on the Assembly and Senate floors and could allow the state to join with nonprofit organizations and local governments in the effort to stave off closures.
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