State Parks affected by proposed budget cuts will go into “caretaker status” and will reopen when the funds are found, says local parks superintendent.
By Melonie Magruder / Special to The Malibu Times
Local state parks superintendents and park users are bracing for the outfall of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposed state agencies funding slash, which would cause the closure of 48 state parks, including Topanga and Will Rogers.
In January, the governor proposed the across-the-board funding cuts of $13.3 million in an effort to combat the state’s projected $16 billion shortfall next year. The California State Department of Parks and Recreation will be one of those hardest hit.
California has 278 parks with more than 14,000 campsites, and more than 4,500 miles of trails and 320 miles of coastline.
Topanga State Park and Will Rogers State Park last year alone had more than 700,000 visitors.
While the budget cuts are ostensibly designed to cut bloated and wasteful department expenditures, the parks department, as Parks District (Bay Area) Superintendent Ron Schafer wrote in a memo, “is an efficient, dedicated and thrifty organization. The term ‘government waste’ does not apply to us… We squeeze blood from turnips on a daily basis …”
Lynette Hernandez, park services superintendent for the Topanga sector, agrees that the governor’s “throw-out-the-baby-with-the-bath-water” approach to controlling costs is misplaced in the case of the parks department.
“We are operating on the least amount of funds than we ever have,” Hernandez said. “My annual cost to run Topanga and Will Rogers is $1.4 million, and we only take in about $490,000 (in park fees). The end of the fiscal year is June 30, so that’s the start of the countdown. Whenever the new budget is signed, that’s when we have to shut the doors.”
The parks department has seen a steady attrition of funding during the past three decades. To save money, department officials began deferring maintenance operations during the past 20 years, to the point that the backlog now amounts to about $1.2 billion. This means parking lots, restrooms and park building roofs are in ragged condition around the state.
During the state budget crises of the ’90s, more than 500 staff positions and 30 percent of managerial positions were lost. At the beginning of 2000, the parks department received 55 percent of its budget from the state’s general fund. That amount has been slashed 35 percent, and an additional 90 positions were cut from the department’s budget.
Outraged citizens have deluged the Capitol with protests targeted not only at the proposed loss of recreational usage of the parks, but also at the shortsighted nature of the budget remedy as well.
Traci Verardo-Torres is director of legislation and policy for the California State Parks Foundation, a nonprofit organization that lobbies Sacramento on behalf of the state parks department.
“Schwarzenegger’s proposal will supposedly save the state $13.3 million, but it will also eliminate $4.8 million in revenue the parks take in fees,” Verardo-Torres said. “Closing 48 parks means 20 percent of the treasures of our state will be unavailable for us to enjoy to save only 0.1 percent of the state budget.”
Verardo-Torres pointed out that park closures affect not only park enthusiasts.
“Our state parks attract millions of visitors from around the world every year,” she said. “Tuolumne County, for example, relies extensively on their parks as tourist attractions and have pegged a $13 million loss in tourist-related revenue to park closures there. That means a loss of tax revenue to the state.”
Lynne Haigh is president of the Topanga Canyon Docents and co-chairs the Save Topanga State Park campaign. She says she has been hiking the Santa Monica Mountains for 30 years.
“Closing these parks will mean losing 50 miles of trails,” Haigh said. “Mountain bikers, equestrians, picnickers, families-they’ll all lose this opportunity to enjoy nature. We’ve paid for the parks through bond issues and they are ours.”
Haigh also questioned the practical feasibility of closing the parks.
“There are hundreds of trailheads in Topanga alone and you won’t be able to police them all,” she said. “People will go hiking, and if trailheads are not in use, they become overgrown. There is a greater risk of fire when homeless encampments come in. There will be vandalism. I’ve heard there are pot farms already.”
The parks department has studied many options to avoid closure.
“You can raise camping fees but there is a point of diminishing returns,” Verardo-Torres said. “Fees of $30 to $40 a night for camping are expensive for most people. At the end of the day, people should be able to afford to visit their parks.”
Hernandez pointed out that many day-use visitors avoid the $1 parking lot fee by parking in adjacent neighborhoods and walking in.
“Out of about 450,000 visitors to Topanga last year, the overwhelming majority were free walk-ins,” she said. “But even if everyone had paid, it doesn’t meet our budget. We want to keep the parks open, but we simply can’t absorb any more budget cuts.”
Hernandez said that parks affected by the budget cuts will go into “caretaker status” and will reopen when the funds are found.
“Meanwhile, we have some park features that will remain open. Skeet Lodge at Trippet Ranch in Topanga will remain open for volunteer-led tours,” she said. “We will keep park properties maintained till we can fully reopen again. Maybe if people let their legislators know they want their parks, something will be resolved.”
For more information on the movement Save Topanga State Park can be found online at www.savetopangastatepark.org. Information on the California State Parks Foundation can be found online at www.calparks.org