Help Save California’s State Parks
Update
The Cooper-Molera Adobe, a National Trust Historic Site located within the Monterey State Historic Park, is one of hundreds of state parks in California suffering cutbacks.
On Monday, July 20,
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and the leadership of the State Senate and Assembly (collectively known as the “Big 5”) announced that they had reached a deal on the state budget.While the budget deal is not yet available in print, several sources have confirmed that the agreement to erase California’s $26 billion deficit would result in a net budget reduction for state parks of $8 million for the fiscal year that started July 1. More specifically, the proposed budget would actually eliminate $70 million of the state parks General Fund as originally proposed in the Governor’s budget, but replaces (“backfills,” in legislative parlance) $62 million of that amount with other funding sources.
While not nearly as draconian as the Governor’s original budget proposal, the $8 million cut will still be bitter medicine for a state parks system that has already endured decades of chronic underfunding. Some park closures are likely, possibly on the magnitude of 30+, but there is no park closure list at this time.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation and our partner, the California State Parks Foundation, continue to work through the Save Our State Parks Campaign to restore funding for California State Parks and to prevent the devastating impact that park closures would have on historic resources and local tourism economies.
Background Information
Last year, in response to the governor's previous proposal to close 48 state parks, the National Trust named the California State Park System to our annual list of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places. Together with the Save Our State Parks Campaign and the support of tens of thousands of Californians, we successfully prevented the closure of the parks.
California's park system, the largest state park system in the country, encompasses a vast array of historic sites that chronicle the state's rich and storied heritage. The system includes 51 designated State Historic Parks, and protects and interprets sites like Angel Island Immigration Station, just restored and reopened to the public; the 101-year-old Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park, recently saved from a proposed factory farm on its border; and the Cooper-Molera Adobe, a National Trust Historic Site located within the Monterey State Historic Park.
Preservationists know from experience that an unused building is a building at risk. Without ongoing maintenance, small leaks become major structural failures. Fewer eyes minding closed parks will lead to increased risk of theft, arson and vandalism. Even at the current funding levels, historic resources in California State Parks receive only about 30% of the annual funding they require; even just a year of closures will make an already bad situation much worse.
Updates from the PreservationNation Blog
In California, “Fantastic” State Parks News Doesn’t Hold Up to Scrutiny
Written by Anthony Veerkamp
Last week, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger issued a press release concerning the fate of California’s state parks. Judging by most of the media coverage that ensued, you’d think that parks advocates had scored a major victory.
Alas, what the Governor called “fantastic news for all Californians” turns out on closer reading to be [...]
Final, Signed California Budget has Additional State Park Cuts
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed his state’s budget yesterday afternoon — one that includes $6 million more in cuts to state parks than was expected just last week. According to our partners at the Save Our State Parks coalition, this brings “the total General Fund cut for this budget year to $14.2M. It is expected [...]
California’s “Big 5″ Propose Saving Some Park Funding, but the Battle is Not Yet Won
Written by Anthony Veerkamp
Last night, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and the leadership of the State Senate and Assembly (collectively known as the “Big 5”) announced that they had reached a deal on the state budget.
While the budget deal is not yet available in print, several sources have confirmed that the agreement to erase California’s [...]
One of 220: National Trust Historic Site Included on List of Proposed Park Closures in California
From ghost towns and lighthouses to expanses of fragile desert and those infamous redwoods, California’s 1.4-million-acre parks system boasts more than 280 miles of coastline, 625 miles of lake and river frontage, 15,000 campsites, and 3,000 miles of hike and bike trails…for now.
If you’ve watched the news lately, you know that times are tough in [...]
Californians: Ask Your Legislators to Save 220 State Parks
Californians, take action now: write to your state legislators and let them know you oppose closing 220 of your state parks.
Written by Anthony Veerkamp
Three days ago, I took the train to Sacramento (that’s right, do what we can to reduce our carbon footprint!) to provide comment on behalf of the National Trust for Historic [...]
Submitted by barefoot at: December 23, 2009
let us work for the centenary together
Submitted by cap at: August 15, 2009
WoW!