"Today, the Governor took aim at California's treasured state parks,
releasing a budget that contains the most draconian cuts ever
considered for the state park system," declared Elizabeth Goldstein,
president of the California State Parks Foundation (CSPF). "Never
before have so many parks, and such a diversity of state parks, state
historic parks, state recreation areas, and state beaches been placed
on the chopping block. The millions of Californians who visit their
parks will not tolerate this and will lead the fight to keep our state
parks open."
As many of you may have already heard, Governor Schwarzenegger is threatening to close down 48 California State Parks as part of his budget cuts. The list includes Clear Lake State Park, which has over 100,000 annual visitors. The budget cuts may go as far as closing over 200 parks in total over 2 years.
According to the Contra Costa Times:
"If there were a huge reduction in state spending, perhaps extensive park closures would make sense. But that is not the case.
In
fact, the savings from closing the parks would be only one-quarter of 1
percent of the state's budget deficit, according to Goldstein. That is
hardly enough to justify such a drastic action."
It is important for all of us who love having access to these places to show our support and send letters and sign petitions to get this removed. Not only are there great fishing spots included, but these are beautiful (and affordable) places that people take their families to hike and go camping.
The California State Parks Foundation has created a web page with a list of the proposed park closures, their annual attendence, and the amount of revenue they bring in. It seems stupid to close these places, not only because we like to visit them, but also because of the revenue loss and the job losses that the closures would mean. Not to mention the risks of vandalism and garbage, etc, that would come from leaving these places unpatrolled.
Here's the link to the list of proposed closures of California State Parks
- Here is a direct link to the online petition
- You can make a direct donation to the State Parks here
- Here is the new "Save our State Parks" web site
Further Reading
Article in the Contra Costa Times
Our state parks are important for current and future generations. Let Sacramento know.
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/3/save-california-state-parks-from-closure