Shutting the Gates on State Parks

We knew it was coming.  Many of us anticipated the dreaded list of State Parks closures for several months.  Ever since Governor Brown announced that his plan to reduce the state’s deficit would include $22 million in annual cuts to our State Parks, we knew that meant closures.  The sad thing about this approach is that closing state parks will actually cost the state more money than keeping them open!

As Trust for Public Land’s lead advocate Rico Mastrodonato pointed out, “State Parks have been on a starvation diet for the last several years.”  They already have over $1 billion in deferred maintenance; shutting the doors means that pricetag on deferred maintenance will balloon.  Add to that the costs of fighting vandalism, homeless encampments, marijuana cultivation, and other inappropriate activities we’ll need to fend off in our parklands.  But it’s more than just these added costs – we also must consider the lost revenue for local communities near parks.  For more analysis on anticipated negative impacts connected to park closures, check out a recent article from the Mercury News.

The number of parks slated to shut their doors at the beginning of the new fiscal year?  70 - that's 25% of our State Parks! I scanned the hit list to see if any of my favorites would be getting the axe, and I was sad to see Castle Rock State Park, my beloved local climbing spot, listed. As well as Henry Coe, and Samuel P. Taylor, and Tomales Bay, and....Well, you get the point.

So what are our legislators planning to do to help Californians retain access to open space this summer and beyond? 

Assembly Bill 42, authored by Asm. Jared Huffman, proposes a creative solution to help keep our parks open.  Specifically, AB 42 would allow the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) to enter into operating agreements with nonprofit organizations to manage state parks.  Sounds like a good idea to me.  By having nonprofits control the management of some parks, we won’t have to go with another option that has been tossed around – corporate sponsorships.  Imagine the advertisements that we would be subjected to at our parks when all we wanted was a break from the rat race! 

So far AB 42 earned unnamious support in it's first house.  We will be working to make sure it garners the same support in the State Senate.

This is a year of tough decisions for California lawmakers - no one can deny that.  The state needs to address its growing deficit.  Let’s just make sure that these decisions add up and benefit all Californians to their fullest potential.  Closing State Parks is not a solution – it will add to the state’s debt.  But if that’s what Sacramento is determined to do, let’s at least make sure that a safety net like AB 42 is put into place to minimize damage.