Ranger Schwarzenegger Attempts to Save California's Parks

After last year’s $24 billion dollar deficit in the golden state, we’ve seen park maintenance reduction, public facility closures and even complete park closures. With more state parks than any other state in the nation, these closures are closely felt by residents. The governor promised to pump money back into the parks starting July 1, the start of the new fiscal year. Guess again.


The $100 million dollars originally promised to state park funding - brought in from oil drilling off the Santa Barbara coast - is now being diverted to oil spill cleanup in the Gulf of Mexico. I guess parks and oil don’t mix.

But the governor is still promising park improvements. How is that possible with a projected $20 billion state deficit for the coming year?

It is, of course, being patched-up with an age-old solution: more taxes. California State Parks executives are suggesting an $18 vehicle fee.

So now we’ll pay almost 20 bucks to visit the park with our children and grandchildren. I figure this is important to keep in mind when local governments suggest more park development. In Alameda, we see residents pushing for Alameda Point parks with undetermined sources of funding. In Irvine, we see the so-called Great Park costing the city $100,000 every month. In the Bay Area, we see Angel Island, China Camp and countless others closing down during the weekdays and cutting necessary public services.

Nice attempt Ranger Schwarzenegger. But can you suggest that local governments fix our current state of affairs before we add more expensive public amenities?