California officials announce closure of 70 state parks

[Newsjock]

Source: Sacramento Bee

State parks officials today announced the closure of 70 parks because of the state budget deficit, including the governor's mansion and the Stanford mansion in Sacramento.

Gov. Jerry Brown's January budget plan proposed reducing the state parks budget by $22 million. The Legislature in March approved $11 million in cuts to state parks and $10 million in cuts to off highway vehicle parks in the next fiscal year, with $22 million in cuts to state parks in future years.

The California State Parks System was directed to identify which parks would close based on attendance rates and historical significance. The department operates more than 270 state park units covering more than 1.4 million acres.

... The department said service reductions will begin over the summer and closures will begin in September. All parks on the list are to be padlocked by July 1, 2012.

Read more: http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2011/05/california-officials-70-state-parks.html

[slackmaster]

1. They always pull this shit when they can't agree on a budget

Old people will die, children will starve, your house will burn to the ground, etc.

[callous taoboy]

2. What a shame.

[Duer 157099]

3. Sad. Here's the list

Here's a full list of the closures from the parks department:

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

[roody]

31. Olompali! That's where I stop to go to the bathroom

on the way to San Francisco.

[Duer 157099]

33. Really? That's a killer onramp

I'd never get off the 101 on one of those few places where they don't give you a proper onramp to get back on. The one near the gas station is even worse!

How far off the highway is the bathroom?

[roody]

34. It's very close.

[Duer 157099]

35. Well I hope you noticed the list of California parks that are closing

due to budget constraints, because it's on the list.

Do they have trees in the parking lot?

(edit: DOH! this very thread is about that, LOL, I can be pretty thick some times, lol)

[EFerrari]

4. Oh, no.

:(

[AngryAmish]

5. Did anyone read the Jerry Brown article in NYTimes Magazine a few weeks back?

Brown stated that if people did not want to fund the government then he was going to show them what a smaller government looks like. It looks like closed state parks.

[shanti]

26. yeah, it sucks mightily

but, don't blame jerry for this. blame the repukes who won't allow the voters to vote on a budget with tax hikes that have been in affect for awhile. jerry warned us that it would happen, i'm taking him at his word!

[Webster Green]

6. This is fucked!

Some of my favorite places are on the list. We're scheduled to do 'Reggae on the River' at Benbow Lake in July.

[aggiesal]

12. Not anymore ...

All parks on the list are to be padlocked by July 1, 2012 under the current budget proposal.

Read more: http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2011/05/california-officials-70-state-parks.html#ixzz1MH2cMBhH

[regnaD kciN]

16. That's 2012...

...so events for this July should still be on.

[aggiesal]

19. Oops, my bad. Sorry about that. Enjoy while you can!!! n/t

[S_B_Jackson]

18. How do you padlock

an area as large as Mono Lake?

[aggiesal]

20. Repeat after me; ALIENS!!! ...

As long as we don't have to pay them. :crazy:

[catchnrelease]

22. I was wondering that myself.

Mono Lake is one of my favorite stopping places when I'm up in the Eastern Sierra--at least a couple times a year. The roads down to the Lake are basically unimproved on the South side, what would they do, block off the turnoff at the main highway? You can also walk down a trail from the big visitor center..... We're going up that way in June, will have to ask what will actually happen. Really sad.

[freshwest]

42. Probably rightwing militias will break in and use it for practice as is in some forests now.

[shanti]

27. also

i noticed that hendy woods will be closed too. that is a hugely popular campground for the sierra nevada world music festival crowd. it usually sells out that weekend.

(on edit: just noticed that the park will close in july, so the festival should be ok as it's in june.)

[fredamae]

7. This is Pure Bullshit! They do this right as summer

approaches!

Folks, we had better start Not spending on stuff that is not "Made In The USA" and when we do, be careful and mindful of Where our shopping dollars go so we are not supporting those corporations and the politicians who Belong to them.

[slackmaster]

9. The timing is simply AMAZING, isn't it?

:argh:

[Codeine]

8. McGrath State Beach. :-(

A great camping spot, even if access to the water has been a bitch since the river flooded a few years back.

[Eyerish]

10. Damn....I've been to quite a few of those...

So, does this mean they'll just be closed until they can get more money for the state parks budget or will this land eventually be sold off??

[aggiesal]

11. Here are the statistics from CA. State Controller John Chiang's Office

There are approximately 16,403,234 workers in California.

So instead of closing 70 parks, we could tax all 16.4M workers an average of $1.34 per year extra,
which is approximately $0.11 per month.

[freshwest]

13. Will the next move be to sell them off at pennies on the dollar to private interests? Happening now.

[underpants]

15. They want the beaches

I've been to California once but as I understand it the beachfront if public property -- is that right?

They want the beaches.

[freshwest]

24. They don't mind stealing ANY public land for private use; condos, churches, malls, resorts.

I don't know if Califoria is open beach along the entire coast, but I believe some of it is private. Oregon has open beach laws, I think; Washington state sold most of theirs off.

I know Texas has an open beach law, but since they've shut off the ferry from Galveston to Point Bolivar and made restrictions after Ike, they are going to grab it too, I guess. I think some of this was done in the Gulf after Katrina.

By using the word 'they' I mean these corporations, who are intent on taking every inch of decent land. I read of this happening in Japan when they had an economic downturn years ago. It's like it was in the Great Depression.

This is going to be excused because people are hurting, the states will scream that they don't have the money for it. These bandits break everything, scatter people and pick up the pieces for pennies. Always the same thing, from the days of Kings right into our future.

[underpants]

38. Well said

I can't add anything further

[shanti]

28. no

that was the arnold gropenator's plan, and he's gone. jerry would not sell these off, he's better than that.

[Incitatus]

14. next step....privatization?

[freshwest]

43. Always

[IcyPeas]

17. How can they exactly close a state park?

it's not like you can put a fence around it -- so what does it mean exactly. :shrug:

[shanti]

29. it means

you can't drive in and park - there are gates. also, the bathrooms will be locked and not maintained.

[freshwest]

44. Eventually, it will be auctioned off as vacant land to the same ones who created this mess.

[shanti]

46. again

the state parks will NOT be auctioned off by jerry brown! that was schwarzenegger's bag and he's gone gone gone.

[JoeyTrib]

47. Yep.

,

[alp227]

21. Would prop 21 have helped

It would have levied a surcharge of $18 on vehicle registration fees to fund the parks; it was rejected by 57% of voters.

[Lordquinton]

23. No, Prop 21 would not help

We wouldn't be able to afford to get to these parks, rendering the whole thing moot. Taxing the rich and business would help, we've got plenty of them here who aren't contributing their fair share.

[Liberal_in_LA]

25. padlocked? I hope people sneak in.

[jb5150]

30. If there are no employees

...who's gonna stop them?

[Liberal_in_LA]

32. my thought also. Public shouldn't be prevented from enjoying the land just cuz

of budget cuts

[slackmaster]

41. People will still be able to enter and enjoy the land in most cases

They can close parking lots, but they really can't keep foot traffic out of most state parks (and by law they can't exclude people from beaches anywhere in the state, except for military bases and a handful of grandfathered private beaches.)

[Liberal_in_LA]

50. good to know

[boppers]

36. Well, if they close the park, but ticket trespassers, it goes from liability to asset.

:(

[aquart]

37. How to start a lot of fires.

[Mimosa]

39. Always enough money for wars, though.

Many of these closures are tragic.

[Martin Eden]

40. Why Padlock the Parks?

I really don't give a shit if the visitor center is open -- I just want to hike on trails in beautiful natural areas OWNED BY WE THE PEOPLE.

If you don't have the funds to pay for staff & maintenance, just re-designate its status until the fiscal situation improves.

[freshwest]

45. It's a liability and the fiscal situation will remain poor until the land is taken by private hands.

Then our kids will grow up in a world less open than ours.

[Martin Eden]

49. Redesignation as a wilderness area would carry the same liabilities

and in a wilderness you're on your own.

[TomCADem]

48. Republicans Are Insisting On No Tax Exension, And Salary Reductions...

...across the board, while claiming that such reductions do not "reduce spending to education." I am sorry, if you cut teacher salaries, that is a cut in education. Finally, their proposed budget assumes no reserves in the budget, which is insane, and simply postpones the fiscal crisis for a few months.