Final Thoughts

I initially started this blog because I was passionate about conserving California’s State parks. I have always loved the wilderness and cannot stand to see the amazing quality of California’s State parks deteriorate because of a lack of funding.

My original change agent was the California Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger. After thoroughly researching the topic, I was alerted of a much more immediate, more practical way of saving the parks from closure. This answer lies in Proposition 21 on the upcoming November 2^nd Election. This proposed bill collects a small fee from every vehicle license and uses that money to fund the renovation and maintenance of state parks throughout the state.

This new information signaled the transformation of my whole blog concept. Instead of trying to attract the attention of the governor and change his mind, I realized that by spreading my knowledge of the topic, this might inspire other Californians to respond to the call by hopefully getting this proposition passed. In fewer words, my change agent shifted from Gov. Schwarzenegger, to you, the concerned California citizen.

I hope that this blog has inspired some of you to appreciate the amazing thing that is the California State Park system. Get out there and enjoy this national treasure. Don’t forget to do your part to save it. Vote yes on Prop.21 on November 2nd, and spread the word!

Enjoy a couple of my favorite quotes and pictures 🙂

“Take a course in good water and air; and in the eternal youth of Nature you may renew your own. Go quietly, alone; no harm will befall you.” John Muir

 

John Muir Wilderness

 

“Its is a better world with some buffalo left in it, a richer world with some gorgeous canyons unmarred by signboards, hot-dog stands, super highways, or high tension lines, undrowned by power or irrigation reservoirs.

If we preserved as parks only those places that have no economic possibilities, we would have no parks. And in the decades to come, it will not be only the buffalo and the trumpeter swan who need sanctuaries.

Our own species is going to need them too. It needs them now.” – Wallace Stegner

 

Sequoia National Forest, CA

 

 

Other Parks Supporters

In a recent comment, someone mentioned that they would like to know more about other organizations that support prop 21 and saving the state parks, specifically ones close to them. I have compiled a list of the most valuable resources that I have had for my blog, as well as other organizations that support the movement across the state.

Cal Parks – This is the California State Parks website, it is beneficial for any official opinions of the park system as well as information on park closures and budget info.

Save our State Parks – An online arm of the California State Parks Foundation. They provide key information about state park closures and a fundraising option to support the campaign.

Yes for State Parks – The best, most informative and well laid out website I have come across. An access point for articles, videos, pictures, and other prop 21 related info.

Folk 4 Parks – A netroots organization reconnecting with the edges of California and working to foreground the importance of CA State Parks. Very cool source for videos and photos. Also has a very interesting blog section.

Surfrider Foundation – A nonprofit environmental organization dedicated to protecting our oceans, waves and beaches. Championing Clean Water, Beach Access, Beach Preservation and Protecting Special Places.

Surprisingly, there were many film-related organizations that showed massive support for the proposition. Evidently, massive amounts of Hollywood productions that shoot on state park land every week. Check out the article HERE.

Here’s a huge list of other organizations that support the proposition.

 

 

Show how you feel!

In our ever-expanding digital age, there are countless ways to make your voice heard, and spread information about this topic. Here are a couple of simple and awesome ways to let others know your stance on the issue.

Tweet about it! – Get on Twitter, and tweet your heart out. Message your friends, retweet others’ posts. Use the hash tag #SaveCAStateParks or #YesOn21 to show your support.

Show Some Facebook Lovin’ – Like or join groups that support the parks, or create your own!

Letter to the Editor – Even the simple act of writing a short letter to the editor of your local paper or online news source could inform hundreds about the issue at hand.

Make a Video – Got a camera? Webcam? Cellphone? Use it to make a rad video about why you love the parks, or why others should support Prop. 21. Now you can even enter it into a contest for a $5000 cash prize! Check out some of my favorite entries so far!

However you do it, make your voice heard. Stand up for the California State Parks before it is too late.

Dont forget to vote before Nov. 2nd.

 

How Can I Help?

If you, like me are passionate about keeping these beautiful state parks around, then there are many things you can do in addition to voting yes on 21.

The biggest asset for the campaign in my eyes is awareness. The more we can spread information about what is happening, and what is at stake, the more support we can garner. There are a few simple ways that anyone can help.

• Spread the word! – Tell your relatives, friends, co-workers, anyone who might not know how dire the situation is for the states parks.
• Start your own blog! – A blog, like this one is a great place to consolidate all the information you can find on an issue. You can also link people to other great sources of info.
• Make a Donation! – There are several organizations out there that accept donations toward campaigning for an increased parks budget. Your donation would go toward spreading the word through flyers, and television and internet advertising. Make a donation to help save the parks through the Save Our State Parks organization, or Yes for State Parks website (click the links to donate)
• Send an E-Card! – E-cards, available HERE, are a fun way to let friends, family, and others know about the upcoming election date and proposition details.
• VISIT THE PARKS! – This is ultimately the best way to show your support. Get outdoors and enjoy one of the nations finest state park systems. Weather it be in the forests, mountains, beaches, or deserts, you are sure to find the beauty and solitude that can only come from being amongst nature.

“Keep close to Nature’s heart… and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.”-John Muir

 

Prop. 21 – Questions Answered

After telling a friend about the funds Prop 21 could generate, she asked a very valid and interesting question. How, she wondered, do we, the California public, know where and how the money we pay will be used?

It took a little digging, but I found the answer in the Budget Brief of the actual proposition, published in September.

“The California Legislature will annually appropriate Trust Fund revenues. Under law, the Trust Fund will be invested as follows:

• 85 percent to the California Department of Parks and Recreation to repair, operate, manage, maintain and develop state parks. Out of the department’s funding, approximately $20 million a year (by law, 4% of the Trust Fund) will be used for grants to public agencies for the operation, management and restoration of urban river parkways, with priority placed on the most underserved urban communities
• 7 percent to the California Department of Fish and Game to manage and operate wildlife refuges, ecological reserves and other lands it owns or manages
• 4 percent to the Ocean Protection Council for marine wildlife conservation and the protection of coastal waters
• 2 percent to state conservancies for park and wildlife habitat
• 2 percent to the Wildlife Conservation Board for grants to local public agencies for wildlife conservation”

– Proposition 21

There is still time to vote, see you at the polls!

If the parks go, so do tourists.

Another huge benefit of the state parks that goes largely unnoticed is the massive amount of tourism that the parks bring in each year. The revenues from these tourists trickle down to local businesses, and other industries that profit from the influx of people into an otherwise unpopular area.

“California’s state parks attract millions of tourists each year, and those visitors help the bottom line of nearby motels, restaurants and other businesses. Every dollar invested in parks flows back to us in healthier lifestyles, business retention, sales tax revenues and a cleaner environment. “ – Fresno Bee 10/5/2010

This quote from the California State Parks Department shows it best.

“A recent survey California State University, Sacramento found that State Park visitors spend an average of $4.32 billion per year in park-related expenditures. An average park visit generates $57.63, including $24.63 inside state parks and nearby communities, with $33 in communities more than 25 miles from the park being visited.  The survey further indicated, of the visitors surveyed, that 11.95 percent were non-residents of California, and their average spending per person was $184.91. That is $1.66 billion dollars in tourism revenue generated by non-residents of California.”  – CA State Parks

Just to recap, that’s:

• $4.32 Billion spent by park visitors on park-related expenditures
• $57.63 spent per average park visit
• $24.63 spent inside parks and nearby communities
• almost 12% of visitors were non-residents
• $184.91 non-resident per-person average spending
• $1.66 Billion in annual tourism revenue from non-CA residents

WOW!

This is a huge source of revenue that will be lost if the parks don’t get the funding they deserve. Do the math, support the parks!

Why It’s a Problem

The California State Parks system is in trouble, and has been for years. Even before the start of the recession, budgets for the state parks were below what they should have been. Currently, there is a maintenance backlog estimated to be over one billion dollars.

ONE BILLION DOLLARS!

“The Bee and other McClatchy newspapers reported this year that our state parks have a $1.3 billion maintenance backlog. This legacy of neglect has led to contaminated drinking water at some parks; trails so eroded they are dangerous to visitors; deferred repairs at historic properties such as Hearst Castle and Angel Island; and reduced ranger patrols, leading to crime and safety concerns.”

– The Fresno Bee, 10/5/2010

This shortage has led to:

• Eroded Trails
• Temporary Closures
• Reduced Safety and Ranger Patrols
• Fewer Jobs
• Neglected Buildings and Trail Markers
• Even some cases of contaminated drinking water.

“We’re on the wrong end of a 30-year downward trend…The cumulative effect is leaving a state park system that is seriously degraded and, in some places, buildings on the verge of collapse.” -California State Parks Director Ruth Coleman

The Sacramento Bee 10/18/2010

The budget cuts are worse in some places than others, check out this video that shows just how bad it is

Budget Deadlock Blamed for Toilet Paper Shortage

Obviously, we can’t let this continue. Remember to vote yes on prop 21!

Proposition 21

Proposition 21 is a measure on the November 2nd California Ballot that might just save California State parks altogether.

The proposition suggests a $18 fee on every vehicle licensed in California each year. This fee would be directed into a fund specifically dedicated to state parks and wildlife conservation. In exchange for this fee, all California vehicles would be granted free admission at all California State Parks for the entire year.

If California voters approve Prop. 21 in November, the act will go into effect Jan. 1, 2011.

While $15 seems like a small amount, the total revenue generated by the fund will be in excess of 500 million dollars.

“Prop. 21 will generate approximately $500 million in annual revenues, based on an estimate of about 28 million vehicles being subject to the State Park Access Pass surcharge in the first year” – yesforstateparks.com

Also, in comparison to normal park fees, the fund will be cheaper than normal if you visit state parks more than once a year.

“The surcharge will be significant savings over the $125 currently charged for an annual parks pass which works only at selected parks.  Compared to the current average $10 cost of park visits – and the $14-15 fees at some popular southern California beaches – Californians would essentially get their money back after two visits.”  – YesOn21

There is less than one month before voting begins, spread the word, and get out there and vote!

Also, here’s a pretty cool video from Christopher over at folk4parks. It’s cool to see people all across the state working for one common goal. Check it out!

What can be done?

Initially, I figured the best way to change the funding crisis was through legislature starting at the office of the Governor. Governor Schwarzenegger should push some act through that allocates more funding to the state parks, just like he made the decision to take that funding away.

I assumed that with enough interest, and a strong push from the California public, “The Governator” would have no choice but to realize how beneficial the parks are.

I strongly encourage everyone reading to take a moment and let the Governor know how the important the California state parks are to your lives. You can reach his office by email, or at http://gov.ca.gov/interact.

After starting this project and learning more about the subject, I found out that there might just be a better way. Proposition 21.

What’s at Stake.

Like I said before, I have always been taught to have a real appreciation for the wilderness. From a young age, my parents always challenged me to explore, utilize and respect the great outdoors. I’m sure everyone, in some shape or form has experienced the serenity and beauty that a rural environment can induce. Weather it be on a family trip to the beach, a sporadic hike with friends, an impromptu yoga session in the desert, or a solo jaunt around a local lake, we all know the beauty of taking a step back from our busy schedules and enjoying the simplicity of life.

I think this quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson about sums it up.

“At the gates of the forest, the surprised man of the world is forced to leave his city estimates of great and small, wise and foolish. The knapsack of custom falls off his back with the first step he makes into these precincts. Here is sanctity which shames our religions, and reality which discredits our heroes. Here we find nature to be the circumstance which dwarfs every other circumstance, and judges like a god all men that come to her. We have crept out of our close and crowded houses into the night and morning, and we see what majestic beauties daily wrap us in their bosom. How willingly we would escape the barriers which render them comparatively impotent, escape the sophistication and second thought, and suffer nature to entrance us.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson ‘Nature’ – 1844

But state and national parks aren’t just a place to find serenity and become in touch with oneself, they also offer an extraordinary forum for communication on the most basic level. In this quote from his LA Times article, Bob Sipchen explains the power of parks not as places of reclusively, but as non-exclusive social melting pots.

“Parks, after all, are the state’s egalitarian pressure relief system. They’re where otolaryngologists and fry cooks go to shed stress, hang out with friends and live for a few days in ad hoc neighborhoods defined by picnic tables and fire rings rather than socioeconomics. At this moment, when people lucky enough to have jobs are working harder than ever, our parks provide an indispensible boost to our collective morale.”

– Bob Sipchen, ‘Save the Parks’ Los Angeles Times 9/19/2010

State parks are much more than gated tracts of land that suck up federal funding. For some they are sanctuaries and places of wonder, for others, they offer an opportunity to meet new people, or accomplish life goals.

State parks serve myriad purposes, for countless types of people, and regardless of the uses or services they provide, they must be saved.

Its time to look at what we would really be losing.

Prairie Creek State Park