Three state parks saved by the National Park Service

The cavalry arrived just in time in the form of the National Park Service (NPS) to save three California State Parks from closing.

Tomales Bay SP (left) and Samuel P. Taylor SP (below left), both in Marin County, and Del Norte Coast Redwoods SP just north of Eureka will remain open at least through 2013 as the NPS will take over operations and security at the parks. This is good news for the estimated 250,000 people that visit these three parks each year.

The rescue was possible since these state parks lie adjacent to or within an existing National Park enabling the NPS to take over with minimal additional expense. Tomales is within both Point Reyes National Seashore and the Golden Gate National Recreation Area; Samuel P. Taylor is located in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area; and Del Norte is in Redwood National Park near Crescent City.

 Additional parks may be spared because of certain fedeeral and state laws. For instance, State law prohibits states and cities from closing any parks that have received federal funding, and about a dozen of the parks on the closure list are on the coast, where public access guarantees under state law state that they cannot be closed without approval of the Coastal Commission.

In addition, sixteen parks received money from the Land and Water Conservation Fund that provides money from offshore oil drilling royalties to purchase and renovate parks.