California State Park Closures

[stevenmd]

My b-n-l works for the state park system. Believe it or not, there is a ton of work that goes into maintaining a park, big or small. Most of the work is to keep the public safe. It is a liability issue. Either spend the money doing the work ahead of time or spend the money losing to frivolous lawsuits. That's just the reality of it all. Sometimes society itself makes us have to spend more money that needed.

 

[stevenmd]

I don't understand why they have to be "closed." Just because there's no budget to pay for maintenance of the facilities doesn't mean citizens don't have the right to go there. It's our damn land anyway.

Tell the Governator to stick it and you'll go where you want in your country. These politicians (all of 'em) need to quit acting like everything is THEIRS.

/rant.

Again, that leaves us, as taxpayers, open to lawsuits. I think your idea is excellent but we just need to find a way - that will hold up in court - to have visitors use it at their own risk.

Another note: this whole "saving it for future generations" thing, what about the current generation? Don't we get to enjoy it too? And just what is a "future generation"? My kids? My grandchildren? Their grandchildren?

 

[modelbuilder]

What if there was a contract you had to sign before entering a park that releases the state from all legal liability.

There could be a massive fine/jail imposed for those caught inside a park that do not have that piece of paper.

Keep the Rangers on for monitoring this kind of thing but close the visitor centers, cut the family programs, etc.

 

[SAR_Squid79]

The thing that angers me is that the parks aren't what caused CA to go broke. Targeting the parks for closure to save
money is just a path of least resistance. It's an area of the government that's not going to spark any turmoil if they eliminate it.

But where as the Parks didn't break CA, closing the parks is not going to save CA. It's window dressing. It's the state saying
"Look at us! We're saving money!" meanwhile they're actually doing nothing more than sticking a Bandaid on a severed artery.

There are about 10,000 other programs that CA could (and should) eliminate, but it would create too much controversy among
certain "minority" groups.

 

[SAR_Squid79]

Got another update today via email:

As you may have heard, last night the Big 5 (Governor Schwarzenegger plus the Democratic and Republican leaders in the State Senate and Assembly) announced they have reached a deal on the state budget. The details are not yet in print, but several sources are confirming that $70 million of the park system's General Fund allocation will be eliminated, with $62 million backfilled by other funding sources on what appears to be a one-time basis.
This leaves the state park system with an $8 million gap, and is expected to result in park closures. At this time, there is not a list of certain closures, we do not know how many or which parks may be closed as a result of the budget deal.
Considering where we started just 8 weeks ago, this outcome is better for state parks than most people could have imagined. We are not finished – the Legislature still needs to approve the budget deal by the end of the week and more details need to come out regarding the parks that will close – but the fact that we're looking at a much more scaled-down version of park cuts than we started with is welcome news. It is certainly a testament to the Save Our State Parks Campaign, the tens of thousands of Californians – like you! – who stood up for their parks, and the efforts of all of us that we've stared down such a draconian proposal.
In terms of next steps, the deal must be agreed to by 2/3 of the Legislature, and they're expected to vote on it on Thursday or Friday. As you can imagine, there are plenty of pieces in this agreement for all sides to hate, but let's hope there is the will to at least get this passed now, to keep the state moving forward.
Thank you for your efforts to help Save Our State Parks, and we will update you once a final state budget is in place.

Traci Verardo-Torres
Vice President, Government Affairs

 

[cruisertoy]

The report on a few of the pecifics that I heard stated that you guys in California are screwed. Yes the Big 5 may have come to some agreements, but most of the issues were resolved with very questionable accounting. Your fiscal year ends in June and they are bumping the last paycheck of the year for all government employees by a week so you don't get paid until the next fiscal year. Seems to me your just hosing yourself for the next budget year. This plus a few other smoke and mirrors practices would land a private company manager in jail or at least in hot water. My former employer ended up in prison for stuff such as this.

 

[azyota00]

CA budget

If they legalize cannibus then their troubles are closer to being over. My bet is; its going to happen....its all in the numbers and the numbers look good.

 

[cruisertoy]

If they legalize cannibus then their troubles are closer to being over. My bet is; its going to happen....its all in the numbers and the numbers look good.

funny. When I lived up north of San Fran I was handed a paper by a hippi outside a comune. I was not aware that Marijoe was actually the tree of life in the Bible. 12 fruits...smoke it, eat it, make paper, make clothes, make ink, smoke it, make TP, smoke it, smoke it, smoke it, smoke it, smoke it, smoke it...dang it that's thirteen.:victory:

 

[CanuckMariner/Nomad]

So, no matter the outcome, if a park is closed does that mean just no ranger/warden station, info booths, etc. or no entry to the park at all?

 

[modelbuilder]

So, no matter the outcome, if a park is closed does that mean just no ranger/warden station, info booths, etc. or no entry to the park at all?

Keep the parks open...but enter at your own risk.

 

[adventureduo]

Keep the parks open...but enter at your own risk.

Yeah right and then CA gets sued anyways and loses more money. Never going to happen dude.

 

[Sloan]

Yeah right and then CA gets sued anyways and loses more money. Never going to happen dude.

California isn't about responsibility, it's about liability. :victory:

 

[expatoz]

Gov. needs to look at making money, not just cutting everything. Why don't they start taxing junk food. They will either gain huge revenue or people will start getting healthier so health care costs for the gov. will drop.

I'm just frustrated I guess, but closing these parks has so many effects including mental, social, physical implications. For me personally, a lot of my physical activity involves using parks. Not that I'm fit or anything, but I believe I walk more when I go camping, I feel more relaxed and have better conversations with people while in parks than just about anywhere else I go.

 

[Cabrito]

Park Closures indefinitely delayed!!

Well it looks like the CA parks are safe for the time being.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/09/16/MNVP19N26J.DTL&type=living

 

[1leglance]

California already robbed the OHV fund there of most of its money, that is a crazy outrage.
Now they talk about a State Parks Fund with a vehicle plate fee, as if that wouldn't get cleaned out for other "more necessary" programs.

It would be fine if it wasn't for that kind of money moving, the OHV people in Califorina should be in outrage about their fees being taken away along with their access. I would get ahold of the conservation groups and show them the history before they invest in getting another "tax" put through.

Personally I also really feel for the "local sherriff's deputys" that the article mentions as having to do patrol now, I am sure they are over worked as it is.