The Red, White, and Green

Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park; Photo: Jennifer Grayson

Looks like you better hustle up and plan that camping trip: Thanks to his blue-pencil veto authority, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger cut an additional $6.2 million from the California state park system on Tuesday — in addition to the $8 million already designated by the legislature — which is expected to result in the closure of more than 100 state parks. (The original estimate was for 50 closures; no small potatoes, but still considerably easier to swallow than the prospect of shutting down over one-third of the state’s 279 parks.)

It has not been revealed yet which parks and beaches will be shut down; in the meantime, state park officials and nonprofit organizations are working to secure private funding in order to keep them open. 

At this point, I’d be grateful to see a corporate sponsor step in (Coca-Cola Canyon?) if it meant stopping the devastating snowball effect — lost jobs and admission revenue, decreased tourism, increased wildfires — that is sure to result from these closures.

Hey, here’s a novel idea: Since Gov. Schwarzenegger’s poor fiscal decisions are largely responsible for the state’s economic crisis, why doesn’t he host a Hollywood fundraiser to come up with the $14.2 million? I’m sure he could even cough up his own sizable (and tax-deductible) contribution. 

Since this isn’t likely to happen anytime in the near future, here’s what you can do:

• Through the California State Parks Foundation, send a letter to your legislators urging them to keep state parks open (you can do this even if you live out of state). 
• If you work for a large company, spread the word about the need for corporate sponsors.

–Jennifer Grayson

 Like this post? Subscribe to The Red, White, and Green RSS feed