SubscribeState and federal parks in California are under attack from misguided politicians, with Governor Jerry Brown recently deciding to close 70 state parks.
The Brown administration announced they will shutter 70 of 278 state parks — the effort will officially begin on July 1, 2012, as a public outcry forced the state government to push back closures. The state is trying to desperately close a $15.4 billion budget deficit that never seems to shrink.
The parks receiving the axe were selected by a few different compiling factors, including the following: revenue generated at the park, visitor figures, importance to local and state history, and geographic/social issues (i.e. development plans).
Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger went loony and tried to close 220 of 278 state parks, but quickly realized how much voters love their parks. After receiving more than 135,000 letters, e-mails and phone calls from angry Californians that wanted to keep their parks open.
I find it difficult to believe the budget couldn’t be wrangled under control by eliminating the many wasteful, mismanaged programs coming from Sacramento.
I plan on writing to the governor to voice my disappointment, and expect he’ll receive letters, e-mails and calls from other angry Californians. It’s a smaller number of parks that will be closed than previous efforts, so we’ll see what the public response to this will be in the coming weeks.
*Ted’s note: Those of us who live in the SF bay area are fortunate to have our parks spared because they are part of the East Bay Regional Parks district. We love our parks!
