California Parks Could Be Seized By Feds

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California officials said Wednesday they are trying to avert the federal government's threat to seize six parks that could be closed to help reduce the state's ballooning budget deficit.

National Park Service Regional Director Jonathan Jarvis warned in a letter to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that all six occupy former federal land that could revert to the U.S. government if the state fails to keep the parks open.

The sites are Angel Island, a former federal military and immigration facility in San Francisco Bay; the top of Mount Diablo east of San Francisco, where the Navy once operated a microwave relay station; Point Sur State Historic Park in coastal Big Sur; and three beaches _ Fort Ord Dunes near Monterey, Point Mugu State Park near Malibu, and Border Fields along the Mexican border.

The properties are among the 220 state parks Schwarzenegger has proposed closing to save $143 million. Legislators are considering the move as part of efforts to close a $26 billion budget deficit.

The Republican governor has rejected Democratic proposals to add a $15 fee to annual vehicle registrations to raise money to run the parks.

"Lands conveyed to the State under the Federal Lands to Parks Program must be open for public park and recreation use in perpetuity as a condition of the deed," Jarvis warned in a June 8 letter to Schwarzenegger made public Wednesday.

The state could also lose future parks funding, Jarvis warned. California has received $286 million from the federal government since 1965 benefiting 67 parks on Schwarzenegger's closure list, Jarvis said.

Schwarzenegger spokeswoman Lisa Page said state parks director Ruth Coleman was talking with Jarvis about the issues raised. "They are discussing a variety of outcomes and solutions depending on what final budget package is passed by the Legislature," Page said.

The National Park Service's California project manager, David Siegenthaler, said reducing the parks' hours or days of operation, for example, could save money while allowing public use during peak periods.

"We want to work with them to see what those options might be, because we don't want to close parks, and I'm sure they don't want to either," Siegenthaler said.

Comments

[Joseph A. Palermo]

01:16 PM on 07/03/2009

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joseph-a-palermo/arnold-schwarzenegger-and_b_223658.html

[RuthlessDictator]

11:00 AM on 07/03/2009

If Arianna Huffington was elected Gov. of California (I understand she was in the running) none of this crap would be happening.

[RuthlessDictator]

10:30 AM on 07/03/2009

Cali parks seized by Feds.

Deer, rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, and other forest residents escorted out in handcuffs!

[PatA]

11:52 PM on 07/02/2009

Yup, better to keep those prisoners incarcerated and keep lining Cheney's pockets. He owns part of the largest private prison company in the U.S...I had to do tons of research to find his part in it, but I did!

[TheFobster]

12:21 PM on 07/02/2009

Legalize marijuana, it will help with California's horrible fiscal policy.

[ccpostman]

09:01 PM on 07/02/2009

Or grow it on the park land.

Both are bad ideas!

[mergina]

01:00 AM on 07/02/2009

Will the people still be able to visit these areas?

[jalowe1957]

12:57 AM on 07/02/2009

Gridlock is a padlock, be it in the state legislature or on the freeway.

[S1m0n]

12:56 AM on 07/02/2009

It's getting close to time to put the whole state into federal receivership, not just six parks. It's obvious that the Governor and the legislature are not competent to serve.

[stevi]

08:45 PM on 07/02/2009

I absolutely concur. The attempt to run a state like a corporation has failed.

[Egghead]

02:10 AM on 07/03/2009

I've been thinking that. I work at one of the California State Universities, and if my department were this dysfunctional, we WOULD be put into receivership.

[copestir]

12:24 AM on 07/02/2009

I would love those parks listed to become national park land . They are run better.

[Knowledgeseeker]

12:02 AM on 07/02/2009

maybe gay marriage can save CA,
or we should start taxing religious organizations since they oppose gay marriage.

[copestir]

12:23 AM on 07/02/2009

Because so many religious organization functioned as a political action committee, that is reasonable to expect to tax them for their political activity.

[ccpostman]

09:03 PM on 07/02/2009

How much money does a wedding produce. Must be a lot?

[inthewind]

10:36 PM on 07/01/2009

As long as we can marry anything with two legs and we can smoke out, give it all away.

[Ping]

10:20 PM on 07/01/2009

Let's face it....he's incompetent.

[Rob the Alchemist]

10:08 PM on 07/01/2009

This is almost an obvious attempt on Schwarz's part to auction off our state parks to the highest PRIVATE bidders.

Think about it... The Governator wants to close the majority of CA's state parks to save 140 million because of a 26 billion deficit?!?!? That's exactly like cutting off our state's own right arm to make a $14 payment on a $2,600 debt - It just doesn't make any sense at all!!!!!!

Here's a better solution. How about we cut our state's prison maintenance budget in half, freeing all our non-violent offenders? If we were to do such a thing we could save $5,000,000,000 just like that! I'm definitely not an expert in math, but I believe that would be something like 35 times as much money, and we wouldn't even have to loose our precious state parks to private developers!!

Californians, use your brains and call bullshit on our self-serving celebrity governor! This only proves that there is absolutely no logic in politics anymore!

source on CA's prison budget: http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7009545769

[minimalist syntax]

10:15 PM on 07/01/2009

This sounds like a good idea.

[jpayne30]

10:47 PM on 07/01/2009

Nice post...first on pulling back the curtain and offering perspective on the parks, and second, offering a decent solution (although it wouldn't have to be nearly THAT drastic to cover the shortfall).

[goingnow]

09:52 PM on 07/01/2009

Glenn Beck was ranting about the parks being seized by the feds and how they should be sold to private owners. Perhaps the word seized should be changed to handled as they revert back to their original owners, the people.

[henrypapillon]

09:45 PM on 07/01/2009

Yes, Ahnold that makes sense. We wouldn't want people to have to pay $15 more to enter these parks. It makes more sense to keep the entry prices low and close them to everybody because there's no money to run them.

[ashb]

10:15 PM on 07/01/2009

People wouldn't be paying $15 to enter the parks. They would be paying an additional $15 for the vehicle license renewal, which has already doubled this year.

[TovSquirrel]

11:29 PM on 07/01/2009

But the $15 could be applied that way, guaranteeing your California-registered vehicle entry into any park in the California system. Over night accommodations/camping would be another, already extant "fee".

[Brandon Crisler]

12:41 AM on 07/02/2009

Cry me a river. That's $1.33 per month. If fifteen dollars a year is a hardship to you, you can't afford a car in the first place.