Hungry Valley State Vehicular Recreation Area?s float in this year?s Fiesta Days parade. The popular park could be closed due to California?s budget crisis unless outside funding is found.
Including Hungry Valley and Ft. Tejon
Unless California State Parks can find financial partners to help offset the current budget cuts and keep its 270 operational units open, as many as 100 parks could be shut down, says CSP Director Ruth Coleman. Exactly which parks may be on the chopping block will not be known until after Labor Day.
State budget cuts could severely impact if not close Ft. Tejon State Historical Park and Hungry Valley State Recreational Vehicle Area, the two state parks closest to the Mountain Communities.
In a statewide conference call for the media on Tuesday, July 28, Coleman said the state park system has lost $14.2 million out of its budget this fiscal year. It is anticipated that figure will rise $22 million next year.
This is the first time in its history that the department has had to consider shutting down any of its parks, Coleman said. “In the event we may have to close parks, that will have a very pointed effect on the local community which may lose business as well.”
She urged communities to seek out financial sponsorships of their local state parks, whether that help comes from local businesses, state or federal agencies, nonprofits or corporate foundations.
“It could make the difference between full park closure or maybe just shutting down two to three days a week.”
She also said that if volunteers can be found to replace paid staff, that could keep a park from closing since staffing costs, especially seasonal workers, are usually the biggest operational expense for the parks.
Cutbacks and closures will be determined by how much revenue each park generates, not the geographic size or historic importance of any given park.
—Katy Penland
This is part of the August 07, 2009 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.
Have an opinion on this matter? We'd like to hear from you.
