Save CA State Parks!

[Hobie]

Save California State Parks!
:

[annekka]

Thank you SO MUCH for posting this. We are long-time and frequent users of the state parks and I was horrified when I heard about this proposal. I'm following this issue closely for more opportunities to take action, in the meantime we are planning our summer vacations around visiting the state parks and spending our limited vacation $$$ there. Here is my letter:


As a strong supporter of our state park system, I am writing to express outrage to the Governor's proposal to eliminate core funding for our state park system that will close virtually all parks.

As a mother, the California State Parks system has proved to be an invaluable resources in educating my children and fostering a love for nature and the outdoors. Visiting parks throughout the state has provided us with many healthy, wholesome family vacations that support the tourist economy in towns adjacent to the parks. Rather than staying home and watching television, our family camps in the parks, learns about science and nature from the parks' educational programs, and gets fresh air and exercise through hiking and other recreational activities. With cuts to science and physical education programs in our public schools, keeping the mission of the State Parks alive is even more critical.

I strongly urge you to seek creative solutions that provide adequate revenue to keep our state parks open and accessible to all Californians. My children, and all the children of the State of California, deserve the benefits offered by this important resource.

[Hobie]

Some of my thoughts:

If the State Parks close, the small towns that depend on park visitors will also suffer.

If the State Parks close, people will walk into the parks anyways, and leave their trash, which will attract bears, and cause many problems. Trash service will stop, so even in non-bear areas, the mess will be huge. The bathrooms will also be closed...so you can imagine what people will be doing.

If the State Parks close, with no rangers to patrol the parks, game poaching will increase.

If the State Parks close, the homeless will move in.

If the State Parks close, drug farms will move in. Not the happy hippy type, but the scary machine gun type.

If the State Parks close, the Rangers and Park Aids will loose their jobs.

p.s. For every $1 spent on state parks, $2.35 comes back to the state, so it doesn't even make $ sense to close the parks. The National Parks have actually have cut fees for a few weeks to incourage visits, so that people will spend more money in the small towns around the parks...why is CA doing the opposit?

[KatWrangler]

Here is some info on some of the Parks.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/0..._n_224141.html