Seventy State Parks Set to Close
Budget Axe Swings Just Wide of S.B. County
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California officials announced today that more than a quarter of the state’s 278 parks will close to take a bite out of Sacramento’s $15.2 billion deficit. Parks spokesperson Roy Stearns said it’s unclear how Governor Jerry Brown’s budget revision — scheduled for Monday — will affect the plan, but if slashings proceed as predicted, the closures begin this fall and end by July 2012.
No parks within Santa Barbara County are included on the final hit list — made when legislators voted in March to cut the department’s budget by $11 million this year and $22 million next year — but a number of nearby destinations, popular with area residents, are lined under the axe. McGrath State Beach in Oxnard, Morro Strand in Morro Bay, and Limekiln and Garrapata parks in Monterey County are all expected to close.
According to Stearns, many factors went into choosing which forests and beaches to shut down. Generated revenue, number of visitors, educational relevance, and contracts with private companies that run stores and restaurants were considered.
When asked what a closed park means for the wannabe visitor, Stearns said simply: “We prefer people don’t go there.” Gates will be locked, he explained, and there won’t be any rangers to come to people’s aid or personnel to maintain facilities. Stearns said trespassers will be asked to leave, and cited if “push comes to shove.”
During the November 2010 election, environmental groups tried in vain to help the ailing state park system by placing a proposition on the ballot that, if passed, would have used personal $18 vehicle registration fees to pay for statewide staffing and upkeep. In-state taxpayers would then be offered free day parking at any site for the year. The bid failed, though, earning only 40.7 percent of the vote.
Here’s a complete list of all the state parks set for closure:
Anderson Marsh SHP
Annadel SP
Antelope Valley Indian Museum
Austin Creek SRA
Bale Grist Mill SHP
Benbow Lake SRA
Benicia Capitol SHP
Benicia SRA
Bidwell Mansion SHP
Bothe-Napa Valley SP
Brannan Island SRA
California Mining & Mineral Museum
Candlestick Point SRA
Castle Crags SP
Castle Rock SP
China Camp SP
Colusa-Sacramento River SRA
Del Norte Coast Redwoods SP
Fort Humboldt SHP
Fort Tejon SHP
Garrapata SP
George J. Hatfield SRA
Governor’s Mansion SHP
Gray Whale Cove SB
Greenwood SB
Grizzly Creek Redwoods SP
Hendy Woods SP
Henry W. Coe SP
Jack London SHP
Jug Handle SNR
Leland Stanford Mansion SHP
Limekiln SP
Los Encinos SHP
Malakoff Diggins SHP
Manchester SP
McConnell SRA
McGrath SB
Mono Lake Tufa SNR
Morro Strand SB
Moss Landing SB
Olompali SHP
Palomar Mountain SP
Petaluma Adobe SHP
Picacho SRA
Pio Pico SHP
Plumas-Eureka SP
Point Cabrillo Light Station
Portola Redwoods SP
Providence Mountains SRA
Railtown 1897 SHP
Russian Gulch SP
Saddleback Butte SP
Salton Sea SRA
Samuel P. Taylor SP
San Pasqual Battlefield SHP
Santa Cruz Mission SHP
Santa Susana Pass SHP
Shasta SHP
South Yuba River SP
Standish-Hickey SRA
Sugarloaf Ridge SP
Tomales Bay SP
Tule Elk SNR
Turlock Lake SRA
Twin Lakes SB
Weaverville Joss House SHP
Westport-Union Landing SB
William B. Ide Adobe SHP
Woodson Bridge SRA
Zmudowski SB