Treehuggers International » California State Parks Foundation

Prop. 21 Gives California State Parks Hope

tommy — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 17:57:37 +0000

Big Basin Redwoods State Park, Santa Cruz County.

The California Parks Access Pass initiative has at last been certified for the November ballot, and it now has a number: Proposition 21.

We at Treehuggers International fully support the Parks Access Pass initiative, which will generate some $500 million dollars a year exclusively for California State Parks, thereby taking funding for treasured parks like Humboldt Redwoods, Mt. Tamalpais, Crystal Cove, Sutter’s Mill, and hundreds of others off the political roller coaster of the general fund and what has become annual threats of closure.

The cost of the Parks Access Pass to Californians? An annual $18 dollar fee on the vehicle license renewal for all Californians, which breaks down to about $1.50 per month for year-round, no-fee access to California state parks. No more entry fees, and fully-staffed parks.

When you consider the average day-use pass at a California State Park runs between $8.00 and $15.00, the California Parks Access Pass is a bargain for Californians, who get to enjoy their parks year-round with no entry fees, while long-standing, backlogged maintenance needs and renovation projects can at last get underway and return the Golden State’s parks to their rightful status as the Envy of the Nation, to say nothing of the economic engine they provide nearby communities and businesses.

Treehuggers International revisits our Septemer 2009 conversation with Sara Feldman, the Vice President for Programs with the California State Paks Foundation, when the closure of 100 California State Parks due to budget shortfalls appeared imminent. Even though state parks put $2.35 back into the local economies of areas around parks for every one dollar of taxpayer money spent, and take up less than one-tenth of one percent of the entire annual California budget, the budget crises of recent years has again and again rendered California’s state parks a pawn in a political tug-of-war between the Governor and the legislature.

Along with the financial impact of potential park closures, Sara also discusses opportunities for joining parks with conservancies, foundations, and local governments to keep parks open in the event of mass closures, and goes over additional threats facing the integrity of California State Parks which have received less notice in light of threatened closures, particularly the long-proposed toll road through San Onofre State Beach and the proposed route of the Sunrise Powerlink transmission line through Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

Learn more about the California Parks Access Pass and how you can help, take action, or volunteer at a state park near you at the California State Parks Foundation and the Yes On 21 for State Parks websites.

American River from Marshall Gold Discovery State Park, El Dorado County.

New Surfrider Film Illustrates Cross Purposes of Water Agencies

tommy — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 17:31:31 +0000

Due to a high volume of interest, RSVP at water@surfridersd.org to attend free screenings of The Cycle of Insanity: The Real Story of Water at The Loft at UCSD on Monday March 22nd.

Along with the film’s producers, narrator Zuliekha Robinson will be in attendance.

Spring runoff along Big Rock Creek, San Gabriel Mountains.

With World Water Day coming up on Monday, March 22nd, it’s a good time to think about the myriad of directions water agencies tend to go, with some agencies charged with the task of bringing water to thirsty Southern California, while others are charged with the task of flood control, flushing any rainwater the region may receive into the ocean as quickly as possible.

It’s not counter-intuitive to take a step back and ask why these agencies’ goals aren’t more in tandem. When rainwater falls in Southern California or a similarly dry climate, it would make as much sense to keep more than just what winds up in reservoirs and use it, rather than expel the rainwater into the sea, only to pull it from the ocean again in the form of a desalination plant, thereby burning more fossil fuels to extract the same fresh water which was just flushed away.

Enter The Cycle of Insanity: The Real Story of Water, a new, animated film produced by a team of activists from different chapters of the Surfrider Foundation, narrated by actress Zuleikha Robinson, and with Surfrider San Diego member and Know Your H20 co-chair Belinda Smith at the helm as Executive Producer.

As part of Surfrider’s new Ocean Friendly Gardens campaign, The Cycle of Insanity: The Real Story of Water discusses how the current management of our water supply runs counter to grade-school lessons about the water cycle, highlights controversial problems and solutions related to water management, and serves as a practical, good sense-driven outline for individuals curious about water issues.

And from one cycle of insanity to another, there remains Governor Schwarzenegger’s ongoing scheme to remove California State Parks from the state’s general fund, and instead fund the operation of all 278 state parks (and several other starving state institutions, including the U.C. and Cal. State systems) from oil revenues collected from a long-delayed, highly-controversial, twice-rejected offshore drilling plan along the Tranquillon Ridge in the Santa Barbara Channel.

In conjunction with the California State Parks Foundation, Treehuggers International was recently in Sacramento for Parks Advocacy Day actively lobbying against such a move, and pressing state legislators for support of the Parks Access Pass initiative, currently in the signature-gathering stage and expected to be on the November ballot. By adding an annual $18 surcharge to all California-registered vehicles, state parks will similarly be removed from the general fund and fully funded from a regular, annual source of support, with the added benefit of EVERY Californian enjoying free access into all state parks, year-round.

Stefanie Sekich is best-known for her work in helping defeat the proposed Orange County toll road through the backcountry of San Onofre State Beach as part of Surfrider’s coastal campaigns and Save Trestles initiatives, and along with Belinda Smith, she stops by Treehuggers International for an update on not only the possibility of expanded offshore oil drilling in California’s coastal waters, but also in federal waters beyond the three-mile offshore mark of the state. While President Obama has been instrumental in the resuscitation of federal regulatory agencies and the creation of new wilderness areas with last year’s omnibus bill, he’s been reluctant to remove the option of renewed offshore oil drilling off the California coast.

From The Cycle of Insanity film to the ongoing parks-for-oil cycle of insanity, we cover some extra ground on this edition of Treehuggers International.

The San Diego Surfrider chapter is hosting the premiere screening of The Cycle of Insanity: The Real Story of Water on March 22nd at 4:00, 6:00, and 7:30 pm at The Loft on the UCSD campus. The screenings are open and free to the public, with a Q & A session following the 4:00 and 6:00 screenings.

Treehuggers International Heading to Sacramento for Parks Advocacy Day

tommy — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 03:13:45 +0000

A Save Our State Parks demonstration at the state capitol in Sacramento.

Treehuggers International is heading to Sacramento on March 8th to put in a little face time with California state legislators on Parks Advocacy Day.

The mission is to not only encourage legislators to keep California State Parks open, but to encourage lawmakers to reject Gov. Schwarzenegger’s proposal to eliminate public funding for California State Parks by replacing it with funding from offshore oil drilling projects which are controversial at best, twice rejected by the California Coastal Commission, and far from being approved.

Along with our partners at the California State Parks Foundation, Treehuggers International continues to advocate for a statewide measure to put the State Park Access Pass on the ballot in November. Called the California State Parks and Wildlife Conservation Trust Fund Act of 2010, the initiative is currently in the signature-gathering stage.

If passed, Californians would support their state park system and wildlife conservation areas by paying an $18 dollar annual surcharge on vehicle license fees. In return, state parks would not only remain open, but ALL Californians with vehicles registered in their name would be able to access any California State Park, at any time, for free.

Talk about a win-win. Californians get free access to their parks, and the parks remain open with a steady, reliable, regular funding apparatus.

Sacramento, we’re coming your way on March 8th. See you then.

An eagle makes a stand at Ahjumawi Lava Springs State Park.

Imminent State Park Closures

daley — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 22:03:17 +0000

Is it too late to save Montaña de Oro and 100 other California State Parks from closure?

Sara Feldman from the California State Paks Foundation talks about the imminent closure of 100 California State Parks. Even though state parks put over two dollars back into the local economies of areas around parks for every one dollar of taxpayer money spent, and take up less than one-tenth of one percent of the entire annual California budget, the recent budget crisis and compromise between Governor Schwarzenegger and the legislature has made nearly 100 closures official.

Along with the financial impact of park closures, Sara also discusses opportunities for joining parks with conservancies, foundations, and local governments to keep them open, and goes over additional threats facing the integrity of California State Parks which have received less notice in light of the current round of closures.

While we at Treehuggers International are disappointed in having to report the news of imminent park closures, it’s a good reality check on what parks are ultimately for, who stands to lose the most, and why these closures have repercussions for every citizen in California, from outdoor recreation to educational opportunities for children.

Learn more about how you can help, take action, or volunteer at a state park near you, at the California State Parks Foundation website.

Campers may find Palomar Mountain State Park closed after Labor Day.

80 Percent of California State Parks to Close

daley — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 22:11:33 +0000

Desert Valley at Anza-Borrego erupts into a riot of color in the spring.

California’s State Parks are the envy of the nation, but they are facing grim times as Governor Schwarzenegger intends to close, padlock, and mothball 80% of California’s State Parks by the end of the summer in order to help pay down the state’s $24 billion dollar budget deficit. 80% of California’s duly revered state park system comes down to 220 out of 279 properties, and the volume and quality of the parks set to be closed is staggering. It’s not even a matter of which parks will close, but which ones will remain open.

In San Diego County, the current home of Treehuggers International, nine parks and beaches are set to be padlocked including: Palomar Mountain State Park, Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, Torrey Pines State Beach, Torrey Pines State Reserve, Border Field State Park, Silver Strand State Beach, Carlsbad State Beach, San Pasqual Battlefield State Park, and perhaps most impossibly of all, massive Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, the biggest state park in the nation.

So far, the projected fiscal savings are coming up as microscopic. The annual budget for state parks makes up less than one-tenth of one percent of the entire state budget, while at the same time, for every one dollar from the general fund which goes into California State Parks, a full $2.35 on the dollar goes back into the local economies of communities around parks, and state parks generate $4.3 billion dollars annually.

The price tag for closing the parks down, only to eventually re-open them, does not result in a net savings. So why close them in the name fiscal responsibility? Even as the illogical nature of the proposal is becoming clear, communities around the state are bracing for a financial calamity with park closures, so keep writing those letters and making calls to your state legislators.

Making special in-studio appearances for this urgent edition of Treehuggers International are Traci Verardo-Torres, the Legislative and Policy Director at the California State Parks Foundation, and Michael Cipra, the California Desert Program Manager at the National Parks Conservation Association’s California Desert Field Office in Joshua Tree.

For more information and to take action, click HERE.

Big Basin Redwoods State Park

Treehuggers International » California State Parks Foundation

Prop. 21 Gives California State Parks Hope

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New Surfrider Film Illustrates Cross Purposes of Water Agencies

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Treehuggers International Heading to Sacramento for Parks Advocacy Day

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Imminent State Park Closures

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80 Percent of California State Parks to Close

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