Most Calif. parks escape ax, but not out of woods
by Peter Fimrite
San Francisco Chronicle
California's state parks have emerged almost intact from the vortex of red ink coursing through the state, but officials insist it will take more time, work and a lot more money to save the beleaguered system during the next budget cycle.
Only two of the state's 278 parks will be shut down completely, a far cry from the 70 scheduled last year for closure due to the state's seemingly perpetual budget crisis. But the park system is a long way from being out of the woods. The dozens of agreements recently struck with nonprofits and foundations to run parks are all temporary, meaning the state could be facing more closures next year and the year after.
John Laird, California's secretary for natural resources, said that the park system is ultimately the government's responsibility and that permanent solutions must be found by the Legislature.
"We will probably in some form be looking at what the future of the state parks department is," Laird said. "We're going to have to take a look overall at what the best way is to have a sustainable parks department for the generations to come, and it's something that in some form we will do over" the next year.
As of now, operating agreements have been signed for 40 parks that were originally on the closure list. Twenty-five others, including Candlestick Point State Recreation Area, are in active negotiations with organizations that are prepared to provide security, parking attendants, rangers and other services, Laird said.
5 parks could be cut
Five parks are still on the chopping block: Gray Whale Cove State Beach near Pacifica; Benicia State Recreation Area in Benicia; Zmudowski State Beach near Moss Landing in Monterey County; the California State Mining and Mineral Museum in Mariposa County; and Providence Mountains State Recreation Area in San Bernardino County.
The Providence recreation area has already been closed for months. The mining museum will also be shutting its doors, but officials said it still could be saved. The two beaches will not have any services, but California law requires them to remain open to the public. The Benicia recreation area will remain open with limited services while state park officials work with the city on a long-term solution, park officials said.
The mass closures scheduled for Sunday were averted thanks to a move by the Legislature to spare the parks by giving them $41 million. But Gov. Jerry Brown slashed that funding to $10 million last week. Still, combined with $13 million in redirected bond payments, the funds bought state park officials more time to complete deals with nonprofit organizations, foundations, government agencies, regional park districts, associations and private companies willing to run a park.
"It will give us a path to keep most, if not all, state parks open, and it will help make parks more financially sustainable," Laird said. "I think we are on a path to potentially keep all the state parks open."
The park situation has become a major crisis in California, which is responsible for 1.4 million acres of land, including 280 miles of coastline and 625 miles along lakes and rivers. The state parks, which also include historic buildings, museums and sites, generate billions of dollars in revenue from tourism and have been particularly important to Californians recently as the economy tanked and more people turned to affordable camping vacations as options.
Public outrage over the cuts prompted groups and individuals to begin raising money, including one man who went from park to park with donation buckets. Park prospects improved dramatically after the passage of AB42, introduced by Assemblyman Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, which smoothed the way for nonprofit groups to take over park operations.
"I think part of this narrative is we have re-energized the people who love parks, and they are stepping up and contributing to these parks in all kinds of ways," said Ruth Coleman, director of California State Parks. "It's a new way of everybody getting involved and protecting these extraordinary resources, and this is going to be the new model for California."
Huffman, chairman of the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee, has been a major catalyst in the effort to save park programs. The $13 million infusion of bond money will go into an enterprise fund and be used by the parks department to develop new revenue-generation programs, a scheme first proposed in AB1589, the California State Park Stewardship Act of 2012, introduced by Huffman.
Pay machines in the works
Coleman said her department plans to place solar-powered pay machines in parking lots and at kiosks, so that park visitors can easily use credit and debit cards. Officials are also working on deals with county governments to put up road and parking signs and otherwise encourage people to come into parks and pay instead of parking on county roads and walking in. Diesel generators will be replaced by solar power to cut down on fuel costs, she said, and more backcountry cabins and alternative camping sites will be built for visitors to rent.
Some successful new ventures have already been put in place, she said, including the recent opening of a wine-tasting kiosk at Topanga State Park in Malibu, an annual blues festival at Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park in Coloma and a recent Broadway-style production inside the ruins at Jack London State Historic Park for which 400 people paid $40 each.
"There's a lot of different creative ideas that staff have been generating internally already, and with these funds we think we can really push forward and come up with some exciting new developments that will help the department create more of a sustainable enterprise model," Coleman said.
There is, for now, less of a threat that there will be more of the kind of criminal activity that happened earlier this year at the remote Providence recreation area, where vandals smashed windows at the vacant visitors center and stripped copper wiring connected to the lighting system for the park's Mitchell Caverns.
Some people are concerned that California is in the process of selling off its park system to private entities in an attempt to ward off transients, pot growers and vandals, a fear that Huffman said is premature.
"We're trying new things, a lot of which have never been done before, in the nadir of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression," Huffman said. "We are going to see how that plays out to assess the degree nonprofits can be a solution, but the upwelling of support is a part of why I think we have a very solid chance of saving our parks. Legislators have heard the public, which is playing a huge role in shaping this debate."
San Francisco Chronicle
California's state parks have emerged almost intact from the vortex of red ink coursing through the state, but officials insist it will take more time, work and a lot more money to save the beleaguered system during the next budget cycle.
Only two of the state's 278 parks will be shut down completely, a far cry from the 70 scheduled last year for closure due to the state's seemingly perpetual budget crisis. But the park system is a long way from being out of the woods. The dozens of agreements recently struck with nonprofits and foundations to run parks are all temporary, meaning the state could be facing more closures next year and the year after.
John Laird, California's secretary for natural resources, said that the park system is ultimately the government's responsibility and that permanent solutions must be found by the Legislature.
"We will probably in some form be looking at what the future of the state parks department is," Laird said. "We're going to have to take a look overall at what the best way is to have a sustainable parks department for the generations to come, and it's something that in some form we will do over" the next year.
As of now, operating agreements have been signed for 40 parks that were originally on the closure list. Twenty-five others, including Candlestick Point State Recreation Area, are in active negotiations with organizations that are prepared to provide security, parking attendants, rangers and other services, Laird said.
5 parks could be cut
Five parks are still on the chopping block: Gray Whale Cove State Beach near Pacifica; Benicia State Recreation Area in Benicia; Zmudowski State Beach near Moss Landing in Monterey County; the California State Mining and Mineral Museum in Mariposa County; and Providence Mountains State Recreation Area in San Bernardino County.
The Providence recreation area has already been closed for months. The mining museum will also be shutting its doors, but officials said it still could be saved. The two beaches will not have any services, but California law requires them to remain open to the public. The Benicia recreation area will remain open with limited services while state park officials work with the city on a long-term solution, park officials said.
The mass closures scheduled for Sunday were averted thanks to a move by the Legislature to spare the parks by giving them $41 million. But Gov. Jerry Brown slashed that funding to $10 million last week. Still, combined with $13 million in redirected bond payments, the funds bought state park officials more time to complete deals with nonprofit organizations, foundations, government agencies, regional park districts, associations and private companies willing to run a park.
"It will give us a path to keep most, if not all, state parks open, and it will help make parks more financially sustainable," Laird said. "I think we are on a path to potentially keep all the state parks open."
The park situation has become a major crisis in California, which is responsible for 1.4 million acres of land, including 280 miles of coastline and 625 miles along lakes and rivers. The state parks, which also include historic buildings, museums and sites, generate billions of dollars in revenue from tourism and have been particularly important to Californians recently as the economy tanked and more people turned to affordable camping vacations as options.
Public outrage over the cuts prompted groups and individuals to begin raising money, including one man who went from park to park with donation buckets. Park prospects improved dramatically after the passage of AB42, introduced by Assemblyman Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, which smoothed the way for nonprofit groups to take over park operations.
"I think part of this narrative is we have re-energized the people who love parks, and they are stepping up and contributing to these parks in all kinds of ways," said Ruth Coleman, director of California State Parks. "It's a new way of everybody getting involved and protecting these extraordinary resources, and this is going to be the new model for California."
Huffman, chairman of the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee, has been a major catalyst in the effort to save park programs. The $13 million infusion of bond money will go into an enterprise fund and be used by the parks department to develop new revenue-generation programs, a scheme first proposed in AB1589, the California State Park Stewardship Act of 2012, introduced by Huffman.
Pay machines in the works
Coleman said her department plans to place solar-powered pay machines in parking lots and at kiosks, so that park visitors can easily use credit and debit cards. Officials are also working on deals with county governments to put up road and parking signs and otherwise encourage people to come into parks and pay instead of parking on county roads and walking in. Diesel generators will be replaced by solar power to cut down on fuel costs, she said, and more backcountry cabins and alternative camping sites will be built for visitors to rent.
Some successful new ventures have already been put in place, she said, including the recent opening of a wine-tasting kiosk at Topanga State Park in Malibu, an annual blues festival at Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park in Coloma and a recent Broadway-style production inside the ruins at Jack London State Historic Park for which 400 people paid $40 each.
"There's a lot of different creative ideas that staff have been generating internally already, and with these funds we think we can really push forward and come up with some exciting new developments that will help the department create more of a sustainable enterprise model," Coleman said.
There is, for now, less of a threat that there will be more of the kind of criminal activity that happened earlier this year at the remote Providence recreation area, where vandals smashed windows at the vacant visitors center and stripped copper wiring connected to the lighting system for the park's Mitchell Caverns.
Some people are concerned that California is in the process of selling off its park system to private entities in an attempt to ward off transients, pot growers and vandals, a fear that Huffman said is premature.
"We're trying new things, a lot of which have never been done before, in the nadir of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression," Huffman said. "We are going to see how that plays out to assess the degree nonprofits can be a solution, but the upwelling of support is a part of why I think we have a very solid chance of saving our parks. Legislators have heard the public, which is playing a huge role in shaping this debate."
