Campaign To Save Topanga State Park

"Defending What's Yours" Video

2012-01-10T17:39:00.001-08:00

At Topanga State Park, it's still just cuts in availability of restrooms, campgrounds and parking lots, and cuts in maintenance.

Relationships Sought to Operate Parks

2011-08-12T12:05:00.000-07:00

slated-to-close-70-state-parks-california-considers-privatizing

This links to a fascinating interview with California's Director of State Parks, Ruth Coleman, on Patt Morrison's radio program. It shows what the department's top brass are thinking, given the absense of sufficient financial support from the legislature or the public. It shows management's vision for our parks.

You'll hear how other agencies and non-profits might step up to help keep some parks open. And you'll hear how "sponsorship marketing opportunities" can fund parks. Apparently that's not "crass commercialization" because the advertising element doesn't actually occur in the parks - it's limited to signage at retail stores bragging about "saving parks."

Since we love and use our beautiful State Parks all the time, we're ashamed that California can't muster the political will to fund them outright. Instead, our parks are reduced to begging and sponsorships.

Meanwhile, service reductions are already obvious at Topanga State Park. And planning is underway to fully close 70 parks across California. More than 40% of our State Historic Parks will be closed next year. Nine State Beaches will be closed, including two within walking distance of downtown Santa Cruz. Which proves, I guess, that UNDERFUNDED government doesn't work!

What's to keep any of these closures from becoming permanent?

Fresh beauty opens one's eyes wherever it is really seen, but the very abundance and completeness of the common beauty that besets our steps prevents its being absorbed and appreciated. It is a good thing, therefore, to make short excursions now and then to the bottom of the sea among dulse and coral, or up among the clouds on mountain-tops, or in balloons, or even to creep like worms into dark holes and caverns underground, not only to learn something of what is going on in those out-of-the-way places, but to see better what the sun sees on our return to common every-day beauty.
- John Muir

Park Closures Again

2011-05-13T19:08:00.000-07:00

State Parks released a list today of 70 parks to be closed beginning in September. Why? Because of a $22 million budget cut going into effect July 1st. Although one-quarter of State Park units will be closed under this new plan, just three parks in Los Angeles County are listed:

Pio Pico State Historic Park
Los Encinos State Historic Park
Santa Susana Pass State Historic Park

These three local parks are part of the department's State Historic Parks program, which will be especially hard hit - more than 40% of its units will be closed.

Additionally, sixteen of our incomparable redwood parks will also be closed. Also shocking - the decision to close Henry W Coe State Park, a spectacular 90,000 acre wilderness park in rural Santa Clara County - and the second largest park in the system.

The department's recent history is one of declining budgets and more parks. Closures are needed under the budget the legislature passed, and the governor signed, in late March. Because legislators cannot prefer parks over other hard-hit programs, there aren't votes even to maintain park funding at today's level. We believe the listed closures will happen. The decision to reduce California's fantastic and beautiful state park system HAS ALREADY BEEN TAKEN.

The California State Parks Foundation has an email campaign opposing park closures: LINK HERE. Please, do it now!

Budget Cuts Loom - Will Topanga State Park close?

2011-01-31T18:55:00.000-08:00

State budget cuts will leave our parks vulnerable to commercial interests eager to exploit our most fragile parks for profit. Under Governor Brown's budget proposals, State Parks will take a $4 million cut in June, and they'll be directed to begin the two year process of layoffs to achieve a further $22 million in cuts. Just 3 years ago, we faced closure of Topanga State Park over smaller cuts. No word from State Parks on this, but our park is already overwhelmed by overuse and misuse. Who will keep the hundreds of illegal campers, underage drinkers, and other scoff-laws out of Topanga State Park - a wilderness park 2.5 times the size of Santa Monica - when State Parks gets cut like this? What imaginary force of volunteer elves will keep the criminals in check?

Parks - your State Parks - are always threatened with road construction, housing projects, power lines, commercial development like casinos and strip malls, pollution and degradation. Now, under the guise of "fixing" our state budget, under a Democratic Governor, their management, their first line of defense will be crippled. Sure, it makes sense, a certain kind of sense, but how will the rest of us feel when the government-haters get their way and developers are called in to "rescue" Topanga State Park?

“God has cared for these trees, saved them from drought, disease, avalanches, and a thousand tempests and floods. But he cannot save them from fools.”
- John Muir

Bad news for State Parks (and Topanga State Park)

2010-11-05T20:19:00.000-07:00

The governor-elect promises no new taxes (without a vote of the people). So after Tuesday's failure of Prop 21 we expect more service cuts at our state parks. There's already a $100 million maintenance backlog.

Here's what happened after last year’s cuts:

46 parks reduced the days they’re open

44 parks closed campsites or loops

50 parks locked restrooms

83 parks cut clean-up

26 parks laid off lifeguards

20 parks cut education programs for our kids

At least Topanga State Park doesn't have the last two items on the list - we can't lay off lifeguards we don't have, and volunteers already provide all the education programs at the park.

A Real Chance to Save Topanga State Park

2010-10-30T12:54:00.000-07:00

It’s a crowded ballot, but we strongly support Prop 21, the state parks initiative. We hope you will, too.

Underfunding our state parks over the last few decades has created a perpetual crisis. Remember the proposal that started this campaign - to close many state parks, including Topanga State Park? Now there’s a sensible way out of this crisis, but it needs your help - your vote yes on Prop 21.

Don’t let the budget gridlock in Sacramento destroy our state park system. We’re lucky that visionary Californians came before us to preserve places like Topanga State Park, Big Sur, Anza-Borrego, Humboldt Redwoods and much of the California coast. It's our responsibility to maintain this legacy - and Prop 21 will do it.

This strongly crafted initiative puts a small new fee into a fund for state park maintenance that the legislature can't touch. All the money will go to parks!

Some people wish other needs were being met, like healthcare or education. We're sympathetic, but we're not willing to see our beautiful state parks fall apart while politics keep the legislature from setting sensible priorities. We've waited 20 years for the legislature to take proper care of our state parks. Now they're under-staffed and under-maintained. If they're not kept in decent safe condition, if they're not kept open, they'll loose public support. If we wait another 20 years, we could loose places like Topanga State Park.

Please vote for the future of our existing parks, vote YES for Prop 21.

Keep Topanga State Park Open - Vote YES on 21

2010-09-18T15:25:00.000-07:00

The Los Angeles Times hasn't taken a stand yet, but the Sacramento Bee has, and so has the Los Angeles Daily News. They've both come out in support of Proposition 21.

Please take a moment to review these two well-written editorials. They make the case very clearly for why our parks need a stable source of funds. The National Park Service can't ride to our rescue every time the Legislature fails to appropriate enough to keep Topanga State Park open.

Something needs to be done to protect these precious irreplaceable, threatened parks. Please vote YES!

Permanent Funding for Topanga State Park?

2010-09-08T11:15:00.000-07:00

The Problem:

California’s imperiled State Parks face irreparable damage. Twice in the past two years, state parks were on the brink of being shut down and in 2010 park’s funding faces total elimination from the state’s budget.

The Solution:

Prop. 21, a ballot measure slated for Nov. 2, will create a stable source of funding for state parks. California vehicles will get free day-use admission in exchange for a new $18 annual fee.

Support Prop. 21!

Learn more at Yes for State Parks.

Budget Proposal Funds State Parks!

2010-05-14T23:02:00.000-07:00

Today Governor Schwarzenegger released a revised 2010-2011 State Budget, proposing to eliminate California’s $19.1 billion deficit with deep cuts to health care and human services, and by eliminating CalWorks.

The budget restores $140.1 million in general funding to the Department of Parks and Recreation’s budget! This is better for parks than the January budget, which included ZERO general fund dollars for State Parks - the money was supposed to come from new offshore oil projects. The destruction of our Gulf Coast by Deepwater Horizon has killed any support for such projects here in California.

This latest budget revision would put State Park funding at 2008-09 levels, not great, but still enough for the department to keep Topanga State Park open. Remember, this is a single step. The legislature will have a hard time passing a budget with such deep cuts to popular programs, and the debate will last well into the fall.

Meanwhile, we're waiting to hear if the The CALIFORNIA STATE PARKS and Wildlife Conservation Trust Fund Act of 2010 has qualified for the November ballot. That will be the long term funding plan we need to KEEP OUR PARKS OPEN.

You can help! Contact your state legislators through the CSPF Action Page of the California State Parks Foundation.

Sick of threats to our State Parks?

2010-03-22T16:19:00.000-07:00

The Governor and legislature are at it again. We need a long term solution to keep our parks open and safe. We need to take matters into our own hands. We can get this proposal on the ballot...

THE CALIFORNIA STATE PARKS & WILDLIFE
CONSERVATION TRUST FUND ACT OF 2010

1. Would fund operation of State Parks completely
2. Would let Californians park free in all our State Parks
3. Would add $18 to our vehicle license fee

...if you help us gather signatures! That’s right, $18 yearly could buy free parking for any car registered in California in any State Park as many times as you want to park it there! But first we have to give Californians a chance to vote.

Governor Schwarzenegger’s latest scheme to fund California’s beautiful state parks - new offshore oil drilling. Who wants that? Let’s get a good proposal on the ballot this November - there's only a few weeks left before initiative signatures have to be submitted to the State.

Call now. We need volunteers who can spend 6 hours a month circulating the petition. We’ll train you. It’s easy, it’s fun, and people want to sign this.

California State Parks and Wildlife Conservation Trust Fund Act of 2010

2009-12-17T12:21:00.000-08:00

We're tired of campaigning every budget year for survival, as if there was any doubt that the public supports our parks! But money troubles in state government will continue to threaten our parks until the department gets another source of long-term funding. We don't believe the legislature can help, so we've joined the effort to pass an initiative called the California State Parks and Wildlife Conservation Trust Fund Act of 2010 (also being called the State Parks Access Pass Plan). We're not in this alone - the campaign is lead by The California State Parks Foundation, The Nature Conservancy and Save the Redwoods League. Many other conservation and park groups are pitching in.

We are looking for park lovers to gather signatures to qualify this measure for the November 2010 ballot. We're organizing informational/training meetings in Topanga, Pacific Palisades and Los Angeles now. We need people who can commit at least 3 hours a month for the 4 months of this campaign starting in January. Please take a moment to consider giving your time.

Do you care enough to help this way? Email Paul at 3paulr@gmail.com.

Now - No Service Cuts at Angeles District State Parks

2009-11-23T22:37:00.001-08:00

from Senator Fran Pavley

Dear Friends,

I have some wonderful news to report on state parks in our communities. The National Park Service has been working with us to address budget cuts at our local state parks. Last Friday, the National Park Service granted $939,169 to Angeles District of California State Parks to ensure that state parks in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area will remain open and operating at last year's service levels.

As a result of this grant, you should experience no reduction in services or operating hours when you visit the many beautiful state parks and beaches within the national recreation area. The grant closes a funding shortfall identified by California State Parks for fiscal year 2009-2010.

I want to personally thank Woody Smeck, the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area Superintendent, Ron Schafer, the District Superintendent of the Angeles District of California State Parks, and Joe Edmiston, the Executive Director of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy for their diligence in working cooperatively to secure this vital funding and to ensure the highest quality state and national park system for the people of Southern California.

Thank you for all your support of state and national parks in the Santa Monica Mountains.

Happy Thanksgiving,

Senator Fran Pavley
23rd District

That means no service cuts at Topanga State Park, Malibu Creek State Park or Point Mugu State Park THIS YEAR. But next year is just a few months away with additional parks cuts. Your personal park-use needs may be met for a few months, but what about the rest of the system and the long-term? We still need the State Park Access Plan.

State Park Service Cuts Announced

2009-11-12T17:42:00.000-08:00

According to a report by Zach Behrens on Oct 27, 2009 on LAist.com, these are the service cuts for our local State Parks:

Topanga State Park - reduced hours, closed camps, closed some restrooms, reduced cleaning, reduced trash service
Malibu Creek State Park - reduced hours, closed camps, closed some day use, closed some restrooms, reduced cleaning, reduced trash service
Will Rogers State Historic Park - reduced days, reduced hours, closed some restrooms, reduced cleaning

Not to mention the lifeguard reductions coming to Leo Carillo, Malibu Lagoon and Point Dume State Beaches.

Eventually the sign in the photo above will have to be removed as a safety hazard. And this crack in the fire road is already a hazard to bikers. I didn't have to walk far to take these photos to illustrate why we don't want any more service reductions.

We think the level of service has been unacceptably low for at least a decade! But it's bound to get worse given the size of the budget cuts just adopted.

Petition Drive For November 2010 Ballot

2009-11-04T10:45:00.000-08:00

Here's a letter we just received, announcing the ballot initiative we've been waiting for:

Dear Paul,

In the coming months, there will be many ways you can help us save state parks. Right now, we're organizing volunteers to gather signatures to help qualify the State Park Access Pass for the November 2010 ballot. Yesterday, along with several other environmental partners, we took the first step of filing potential ballot language, the "California State Parks and Wildlife Conservation Trust Fund Act of 2010." Not only are park supporters the most passionate voices on this issue, but using volunteers will be a great cost-savings for the campaign.

Since early 2008 we've tried to work with the Legislature and Governor to Save Our State Parks. Although we staved off the closure of 80% of the system (proposed by the Governor), and elimination of all core state funding for state parks (also proposed by the Gov), it's clear that the powers that be in Sacramento aren't riding to the rescue.

We're done trying to convince them. We're taking our case to the people. CSPF is actively working to put the State Park Access Pass on the ballot in November 2010 and we need your help. We will be working hard this Fall and Winter to gather public support.

You've demonstrated your support for state parks over the last year, can you help take it one step further and help us gather signatures in your community? If you're willing to commit to helping put the State Park Access Pass on the ballot, please join our team and find out more on our website.

Thank you again for all of your support!

Elizabeth Goldstein
President, California State Parks Foundation

We support this wholeheartedly! Our parks need a permanent long-term source of funding, not this permanent losing battle with hospitals and schools. We wish there was something else, something better. We can imagine all kinds of things. But this is the one that can actually happen. Please join us in working to get this initiative on the ballot.

Bizarre Parks Award For Schwarzenegger

2009-10-26T12:21:00.000-07:00

Every year National Parks Trust honors a public servant's work for the environment and public lands. This year they selected California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

"...for his overall record in land conservation, the highlights of which include the creation of the Sierra Nevada Conservancy, the protection of important coastal areas in California, the preservation and stewardship of related forests and stream habitat, and his initiatives promoting youth fitness and out-of-doors experiences, exemplified in California Children's Bill of Rights. NPT also recognizes the Governor for his leadership in addressing climate change and alternative energy."

Ignoring, I guess, Schwarzenegger's record supporting power lines at Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. Oh, and his support for SR241 through San Onofre State Beach. And his sacking of State Park & Recreation Commissioners Clint Eastwood and Robert Shriver for their work to protect these two parks in opposition to the Governor. And ignoring his arbitrary additional July line-item veto of $6.2 million in parks funding. And his recent record of two vetos for every environmental bill he signs.

National Park Trust Board Chair, F. William Brownell said,

"The budget crisis in California emphasizes the importance of organizations like NPT who work to develop and to leverage resources to protect our parks."

What's happened here in California is leverage all right. If we continue to let State Parks be weakened every year, they'll be leveraged into accepting all kinds of intrusive development. Why stop at highways and powerlines? Are state parks really at risk? According to the California State Parks Foundation in 2006 there were 122 possible development projects in 73 state parks. Now including a horse corral at Malibu Creek State Park that, from Mulholland Highway will look like a giant RV park.

Brownell also said,

"We discussed the matter of park closures with the Governor in June and are hopeful that our concerns have contributed to this resolution [emphasis added]. NPT is committed to working with California to support the continued viability of the state's parks; we will support California's efforts to develop long-term solutions to keep them open."

Now that's about as nonsensical as flak can get. I guess we should know NPT by the company they keep?

PARKS TO STAY OPEN, MOSTLY

2009-09-27T12:50:00.000-07:00

It's not really a victory.

Schwarzenegger's announcement that State Parks will be required to keep parks open at the expense of staff and maintenance is (in a department woefully understaffed and with a $120 million maintenance backlog) business as usual.

Parks that already have seasonal closures will see them extended. Where it's possible remote portions of parks will be closed, or parking lots, campgrounds or restrooms will be closed several days a week. There will be staffing cuts and already delayed maintenance projects will be postponed further. But it looks like Topanga State Park will remain open, at least mostly open. Since the few rangers actually at Topanga would still be needed to patrol the park if it closed, keeping it open seems sensible.

We think the Governor won't allow another closure proposal to come forward. But that won't protect State Parks from the cuts in next year's budget. Already painfully underfunded, State Parks faces slow ruin.

Why do parks matter?

Because the wilderness is fundamental to our American identity. Because it still means freedom to us. Because we want to preserve some of California's incredible natural beauty. That's why Americans invented public parks. Before that, parks were reserved for Kings and Queens. This history matters because so many people today don't have a place of their own where they can sit out under the open sky. This seems obvious to us, but...

State Parks make us money!

The only way a large wilderness park can make money directly is by developing it into something else. But State Parks attract tourists, and TOURISM IS A BUSINESS. Our beautiful State Parks bring a lot of tourists to our communities. The taxes on their spending are several times greater than the cost of operating the parks. So they do pay their own way! But since we don't collect that revenue at the park gates, State Parks doesn't get credit.

Californians have worked hard over the past 150 years to raise private money to purchase most of our park system. We've voted to tax ourselves with 4 major bond issues to add to those private contributions. And we've worked hard to keep the very persistent developers and profiteers out of our parks. But in the last two decades the legislature has gotten cheap, and State Parks has had to squeeze the management of more-and-more parkland out of less-and-less money. We urge you to start thinking about permanent funding for this agency that maintains our beautiful wilderness, and unique cultural and historical resources.

"Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out going to the mountains is going home; that wilderness is a necessity; and that mountain parks and reservations are useful not only as fountains of timber and irrigating rivers, but as fountains of life."
- John Muir (1898)

An Open Letter To Karen Bass, Speaker of The California Assembly

2009-07-01T18:39:00.000-07:00

Dear Speaker Bass:

We're writing about comments you recently made:

What do most Californians misunderstand about the mess that we're in now?

I think we have a state where people want a particular quality of life, but they don't necessarily want to pay for it. They want "you" to pay for it. [laughs] So: "Cut, but keep my parks open."
Quoted in PATT MORRISON ASKS
in Los Angeles Times of June 27th, 2009

We take this as mockery of our efforts to keep State Parks open. Since every elected official we talk with says their mail on the budget is overwhelmingly from park supporters, it seems obvious to us that you do not like the priorities of your constituents. Although we are appalled at the cuts contemplated in education and health care, we view parks and park funding differently:

Schools cost the general fund $41 billion and parks just $140 million
Schools take almost half the general fund, parks take a fraction of a percent
100% of park general fund support is proposed for cuts, and 10% from schools
Public schools serve 6.2 million students; State Parks serve 79 million visitors
Due to previous cuts, State Parks already provides a ridiculously low level of service
The proposed cuts will hurt school quality, but close most of the park system
Park closure is not a reduction in service or cutting waste and fat, it’s eliminating the service completely
The 60 square miles of parks in the Santa Monica Mountains on the closure list will attract illicit and potentially dangerous users
Abandoning parks won't release the State from legal liabilities possibly much greater than State Park's annual budget
Schools without counselors or nurses or librarians may be bad schools, but abandoned off-limits State Parks aren’t even parks
Public parks are not a feature of the welfare state or safety net or an entitlement - they predate all of that by 100 years (Yosemite was first protected by President Lincoln in 1864)

Be fair to parks. Be fair to the people who use them. Community activists fought hard to protect this land from development. Now we’re working hard to keep all our beautiful California State Parks open. We’re happy to see you've noticed our efforts. But we hope you’ll take them seriously.

Sincerely,
CAMPAIGN TO SAVE TOPANGA STATE PARK

DISASTER!

2009-06-28T18:22:00.000-07:00

Because of the budget cuts, obviously there will be park closures. The number has not yet been decided, but we hear as many as 100 of our incomparable 279 State Parks. Since it has been on every closure list prepared to date, we expect our Topanga State Park will be closed, perhaps in the fall. Details won't be published until after Labor Day.

If this sudden and complete reversal of park policy stands it will mean the end of state parks as we have known them. State Parks has taken the position that they will not sell advertising or naming rights to parks, but they will tastefully recognize major donors. This will not be enough of a solution. So what next?

We don't have any great ideas, do you?

How could it have come to this? Few legislators said they wanted park closures. We heard repeatedly that voters had contacted them more about keeping parks open than any other budget item. So obviously the legislature didn't have the power to help us. If we want to state parks to remain open, we're going to have to supply the leadership to get it done!

Now State Parks is scrambling for alternative funding, and local officials have put out the story that Friends of Topanga State Park, an fictional group imaginatively linked to this website, may step forward with funding or conduct fund raising to keep Topanga State Park open. We wish we knew people who could give the half million dollars needed but we don't. We're not fund raisers, and we imagine this to be an incredibly difficult time to seek new donors. So what do we do in the meantime? Without destroying every reason we love our wilderness park?

Maybe now we should support an initiative campaign to put the Access Pass proposal on the ballot. What do you think?

Save Our Parks Rallies

2009-06-27T20:32:00.000-07:00

Rally at Will Rogers State Historic Park with the Trail Runners Club

Rally at Topanga State Park with Topanga Docents and friends

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul alike.
- John Muir

Letter From A Park Visitor

2009-06-25T20:18:00.000-07:00

Dear Campaign To Save Topanga State Park,

I happened to have just started hiking with the West Side Group of the Sierra Club on Friday evenings almost eleven months ago. The first time I ever hiked with the group on Paseo Miramar, I was lent a pair of trekking poles and loved them so much I went out to buy my own a week later so I could hike with them the following week. Hiking with the group has been so rewarding to me as well as the other people because I just happen to be blind, and with the trekking poles in my hands, I feel as if I can see. The white cane goes in my pack and the poles are out in front of me like a hiker has his or her poles and away I go. I need little or no guidance, but I still walk with people for safety. I have never met such nice people in all my life. It is so healthy to do something like this because you are relieving stress as well as gaining even a better life, and there is nothing better than smelling fresh air, that is smog-free, there is nothing like the sounds of crikets, and the feel of the soil under your feet. It is so like being close to God as you can possibly get, and when we have completed the hikes on these wonderful Friday nights, we all feel as if we do not have a worry in the world. It is like a million dollars without having the money.

What I am also gonna say is that we need this park, our trails on this park and the other parks like this to stay open because we need to teach our children as well as friends of ours who maybe never even seen a state park or trail in their lives. We need to have some sense of peace of mind, and an escape from everyday life that puts stress on all of us. We need something to talk and think about.

I will be so terribly devastated not just for me, but for everyone else I know who enjoys this wonderful sport of hiking because this is something we will all miss. Please let us do whatever we can to save this park and all others. We need this. We need to be able to breathe air that is fresh and not polluted. If we do not have this park and others, what do we have?

Thank you for reading this and also for your time and consideration.

Kelly

Local State Parks On Proposed List

2009-06-15T18:46:00.000-07:00

State Park	Acreage	Revenue	Costs	Visitation
Los Angeles Sector
Los Angeles State Historic Park	32	0		*
Los Encinos State Historic Park	5	$2,860		18,935
Pio Pico State Historic Park	1	0		*
Rio de Los Angeles State Park	58	0		*
Santa Susana Pass State Historic Park	670	0		11,775
Verdugo Mountains State Park	251	0		*
Will Rogers State Beach	82	0		*
Malibu Sector
Leo Carrillo State Park	2,516	$1,322,841		428,758
Malibu Creek State Park	7,953	$599,591		399,087
Malibu Lagoon (including Adamson House) SB	68	$205,824		325,228
Point Mugu State Park	13,925	$941,681		361,500
Robert H. Meyer Memorial State Beach	37	$67,015		603,890
Topanga Sector
Topanga State Park	12,666	$156,449		402,072
Will Rogers State Historic Park	189	$370,984		204,604
Angeles District Closures	38,453	$3,664,385		2,755,849
Angeles District Grand Totals	39,334	$3,701,204	$9,898,652	2,755,849

* Not tracked

Data from the 2007/2008 California State Park System Statistical Report.

All the parks listed above will close. Only the seven beachs and small parks or recreation areas in Angeles district that are managed under cooperating arrangements with county and other agencies will remain open. Since those revenues and costs don't pass through the general fund, they aren't affected in this budget crisis.

You may wonder why there aren't visitation numbers for every park. Numbers take expensive man-hours to compile and have limited utility, so State Parks doesn't spend the money. Or maybe you wonder what it costs to keep your favorite park open. Some years ago management and maintenance were consolidated so that few employees are assigned to just one park. Since getting those interesting but useless numbers would be expensive, State Parks doesn't spend that money either.

Get Out of The Way, Let Us Have The Parks We Want

2009-06-12T18:42:00.000-07:00

We don't want to hear about waste and fraud. California State Parks operates on a shoestring. Get out in a park and see what we mean! If there really was waste and fraud they'd cut that and keep our parks open!

We're tired of hearing from people who think they could do better. Don't be a backseat driver, get a degree and apply for the job. It pays less, is less fun, requires more sacrifices and is more complicated than you think. See what's going on for yourself!

We don't want to hear about how much California State Parks employees make or what great perks they have. We know some rangers and we see how they live. Give us a break!

And we're really bored with the talk about fee increases. When parking went up by $2 last year, so many people started parking outside Topanga State Park, the park is going to lose money on the increase. And anyway, look at how little parking revenue Topanga State Park produces. Give it up!

Finally, we don't want to hear how there's no money. Even in these difficult times, California is a rich state. We can afford the parks we want. But a dedicated minority has been campaigning for decades to achieve the current collapse in Sacramento because they don't like public roads, public schools, public libraries, public universities, public hospitals, public utilities, or public parks - things most of us use all the time. It's our indifference, and an unusual and anti-democratic requirement for a 2/3 vote for tax increases, that has allowed a selfish minority to create the current crisis in the legislature. Let's show them we won't put up with it any more!

Only by going alone in silence, without baggage, can one truly get into the heart of the wilderness. All other travel is mere dust and hotels and baggage and chatter.
- John Muir

What's At Stake

2009-06-12T18:39:00.000-07:00

Angeles District's 60 square miles of parkland and 150 miles of trails will be closed to hikers, bikes, equestrians, to everybody. Without fencing, without staff, without maintenance. Empty, unsupervised, and attractive to marijuana growers, off-road-vehicle riders, latenight partiers, vandals, firebugs, poachers, and vagrants. The potential for damage to the parks is obvious. The safety problems for the neighbors are obvious. But the potential legal liability is shocking. Residents of Corral and Latigo Canyons whose homes were damaged two years ago during the 4,500 acre Corral Canyon Fire have sued the state for $450 million dollars because it "failed to hire enough park rangers or cut the brush around the cave area." A single fire might cost the state more than operating the entire park system for 5 years!

Think having armed members of international drug cartels in our parks sounds farfetched? It's already happened! In September 2005, a $28 million marijuana farm was found by federal authorities in Malibu Creek State Park and removed by sheriff's deputies. It's a serious enough problem that State Parks, the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, National Forest Service and 110 other agencies participate in a statewide multi-agency task force to stop it. Won't keeping law-abiding citizens out of the parks make all of this worse?

Fresh beauty opens one's eyes wherever it is really seen, but the very abundance and completeness of the common beauty that besets our steps prevents its being absorbed and appreciated. It is a good thing, therefore, to make short excursions now and then to the bottom of the sea among dulse and coral, or up among the clouds on mountain-tops, or in balloons, or even to creep like worms into dark holes and caverns underground, not only to learn something of what is going on in those out-of-the-way places, but to see better what the sun sees on our return to common every-day beauty.
- John Muir

Simple things to do RIGHT NOW

2009-06-05T17:44:00.000-07:00

(do as many as you can)

1.	Send an eMessage to your legislators. Tell them you support the State Park Access Pass (sorry, they're calling it SPAP). Visit http://ga3.org/campaign/budget_spap09 [NO LONGER AVAILABLE] to send an email supporting it.
2.	Make a phone call your legislators' offices. And the governor's office. Tell them you want, need and love your state parks, that you want all the parks stay open, and that you'll pay your fair share. Support the State Park Access Pass to pay for parks. The governor's Sacramento office number is 916-445-2841. You will not be the only one calling. Look up your legislator's phone numbers at: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/yourleg.html
3.	Contact the "Big 5" leaders, who negotiate the state budget. Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (D) Los Angeles speaker.bass@assembly.ca.gov Assembly Minority Leader Sam Blakeslee (R) San Luis Obispo assemblymember.blakeslee@assembly.ca.gov Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D) Sacramento senator.steinberg@senate.ca.gov Senate Minority Leader Dennis Hollingsworth (R) Murrieta senator.hollingsworth@senate.ca.gov Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) http://gov.ca.gov/interact You don't need to say much beyond telling them you want our parks kept open. Please be respectful. This link opens an email and below is suggested text you can copy. Change it any way you want. For the safety and liveability of our communities, please vote to keep all California State Parks open. Support the State Park Access Pass proposal. We love our parks!
4.	Hand out fliers. To your friends, at a park, at the grocery store, leave them at a coffee house. Use your imagination and initiative. Join us at handing out fliers at Trippet Ranch Sunday morning. Here's the front side [NO LONGER AVAILABLE] as a 64K PDF file, and the back side [NO LONGER AVAILABLE] here is 48K. We're copying them on bright yellow paper and having the copy shop cut them in four.
5.	Send an email to your friends. Ask for their support. This link opens an email and here's suggested text you can copy. PLEASE TAKE ACTION TODAY. Let your legislators know that you want all our state parks kept open and that you support the State Park Access Pass proposal. This week the Budget Conference Committee voted to withdraw all general fund money for state parks. 220 of our beautiful California State Parks will be closed unless other funding is found. Right now our only hope appears to be the State Parks Access Pass proposal. By paying $15 annually on vehicle license fees, Californians could receive free day-use parking at the parks, and state parks would have stable funding. This seems to us like a win-win situation. Although the Conference Committee recommended it, we aren't sure State Parks Access Pass will be approved by the legislature and signed by the governor. It will be decided as early as next week, so please take action today. Topanga State Park and every other state park in the Santa Monica Mountains and most of the state parks in California are slated for closure this summer. Please send an e-letter NOW to your legislators via http://ga3.org/campaign/budget_spap09 Find other Action Now ideas and information at http://www.savetopangastatepark.org/ Thank you,
6.	Keep up-to-date. Check back here. Visit http://savestateparks.org/ for updates. If you need the inside scoop on the political action and you're on facebook, visit the fanpage for Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks, they have excellent paid staff working on this issue.
7.	*Become a fan of the Save Topanga State Park* cause on facebook.**

General Fund Money Eliminated

2009-06-04T18:25:00.000-07:00

California is facing a $24 billion shortfall on general fund expenses of $92 billion. It's a big problem, and June 15, the budget conference committee voted to cut all general fund money for state parks, all $70 million of it for each of the next two years starting in July. Unless something changes, 220 out of California's 273 beautiful state parks will be closed. Parking lots and restrooms will be locked, signs posted and the parks will be abandoned!

Every state park in the Santa Monica Mountains will be closed. That's Topanga, Leo Carrillo and Malibu Creek State Parks; Malibu Lagoon and Meyer State Beaches; and Will Rogers and Los Encinos State Historic Parks. Make no mistake, when this becomes law it will do permanent damage to our parks statewide and to the liveability of all our local communities.

Right now the only possibility for our parks appears to be the State Park Access Pass proposal. That's a $15 vehicle license surcharge that would fund state parks and allow free parking for cars with California plates. It passed the conference committe, but we aren't sure it will pass the whole legislature and be signed by the governor. It comes up for a vote again as early as Friday June 19. You know what's at stake. Please take action.

“In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.”
- John Muir

Santa Cruz Park Supporters RALLY!

2009-06-03T17:40:00.000-07:00

This photo was taken at a rally of park supporters on Monday June 1st organized by the beautiful people at Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks. Can you believe it - A MONDAY!!! And it got local TV coverage. http://www.thatsmypark.org Photo credit to Bradley at Santa Cruz IndyMedia.

“When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.”
- John Muir

Schwarzenegger proposes PARK CLOSURES AGAIN!

2009-06-01T17:35:00.000-07:00

You may remember the Governor's proposal last year to close 48 parks including Topanga State Park, and Will Rogers and Los Encinos State Historic Parks. A statewide effort forced withdrawal of that outrageous proposal. But a year later, with state revenues some $21 billion below expectations, Schwarzenegger has again attacked parks - now he's proposed closure of 220 out of California's 273 beautiful state parks! This is so much worse than what we thought was defeated last year. Every state park in the Santa Monica Mountains will be closed. That's Topanga, Leo Carrillo and Malibu Creek State Parks; Malibu Lagoon and Meyer Memorial State Beaches; and Will Rogers and Los Encinos State Historic Parks. Make no mistake - if this passes the legislature it will do permanent damage to our parks statewide and to the liveability of all our local communities.

Things are developing very fast. A hearing was held by the legislature June 2, maybe the only hearing we'll have with public comment on this subject. You know what's at stake, and we hope you'll take action. Call your legislators' offices. Call the governor's office. Tell them you want, need and love your state parks. Agree to pay taxes to support the parks. Demand that the parks stay open. Remind them of the 17,000 people who signed our petition last year. Keep informed, visit the California State Parks Foundation website.

Topanga 10K Run CELEBRATION

2008-06-17T19:42:00.000-07:00

“The power of imagination makes us infinite.”
- John Muir

Where Do Our Supporters Live?

2008-06-16T11:14:00.000-07:00

Based on analysis of the ZIP codes of people who signed our online petition. Thanks to everyone who signed, who passed petitions, who helped in any way. Thank you!

“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

WHAT NEXT?

2008-06-14T11:32:00.000-07:00

In January Governor Schwarzenegger proposed a 10% across-the-board reduction for state agencies and State Parks drew up plans to close 48 parks. We're not in favor of that! Our petition drive against it garnered 17,000 signatures, and when Topanga Sixth Graders delivered petitions in Sacramento, their trip got TV, radio and newspaper coverage. With similar campaigns up and down the state, the Governor changed his mind about cutting State Parks. In a surprising victory for park lovers, there'll be NO PARK CLOSURES.

Thank you for helping make this happen. A big thank you also to the California State Park Foundation, which was a big help to local campaigns up and down the state and which held it's own petition drive.

Is it enough? With the roads, fences, trails and buildings in our parks falling apart, our actions this spring captured the attention of some legislators. John Laird, Chair of the Assembly Budget Committee, introduced an excellent proposal for park funding: Californians would pay a $10 surcharge on their annual vehicle registration fee; in return, they would receive a State Parks Access Pass, good for free day-use of State Parks. We like this idea - we need substantial permanent funding to maintain our beautiful wilderness, and unique cultural and historical resources.

Please take a moment to show you support better funding at www.calparks.org. The link sends an email to your legislators and copies to the Assembly Speaker and Senate President. It's important to have substantial permanent funding for this agency that maintains our beautiful wilderness, and unique cultural and historical resources. Maybe if we tell them we want it, our legislature will come through for us.

"This proposal [State Parks Access Pass] is a well-thought-out and long term solution that would provide sustainable funding for our state parks, and real value for every Californian who treasures and wants to protect these precious assets."

- Topanga's Assembly Member Julia Brownley

“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to the body and soul.”
- John Muir

NO PARK CLOSURES THIS YEAR! 2008

2008-06-13T11:11:00.000-07:00

THANK YOU dear friends!

In January Governor Schwarzenegger proposed a 10% across-the-board reduction for state agencies, and State Parks drew up plans to close 48 parks to do it's part. Now, in his May Revise of the budget, Schwarzenegger makes a different proposal - putting most of the money back in State Parks' budget and requiring them get $1.5 million from camping and parking fee increases. But NO PARK CLOSURES.

It's a victory for park advocates. The budget moves on to the legislature where it will all get re-written. We believe it unlikely any legislator will want park closures back in the budget. Everyone knows that park closure is bad public policy - now they also know it's bad politics.

If you're on this site, you helped. Thank you! We're gathering photos of some of the people and activities that made this happen, and we hope to post them early next week.

Of course, next year there will be another budget, and possibly cuts. Already painfully underfunded, State Parks may again face ruin. As our state gets more crowded, we need more parks, and we continue to approve bond-funded purchases. State Parks has squeezed the management of more-and-more parkland out of less-and-less money for two decades. Right now, the legislature needs to to it's part. But Californians need to start thinking about permanent funding for this agency that maintains our beautiful wilderness, and unique cultural and historical resources.

Based on our experience with the petition drive, we believe there is public support to take this away from the legislature in the manner of Prop 10 and Prop 63. What do you think?

“The gross heathenism of civilization has generally destroyed nature, and poetry, and all that is spiritual.”
- John Muir

Earth Day 2008

2008-05-19T19:16:00.000-07:00

Protesting Proposed Park Closures at Trippet Ranch on Earth Day.

“When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.”
- John Muir

VICTORY?

2008-05-16T11:10:00.000-07:00

Schwarzenegger unveiled a revised budget May 14. It appears to provide an additional $11 million from the general fund and requires State Parks to boost parking and camping fees to raise the rest.

Are we done? Gives us a couple days to review the situation - the legislature needs to pass the budget for this proposal to go into effect.

“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to the body and soul.”
-John Muir

You Can Still Email The Governor

2008-05-10T18:59:00.000-07:00

Governor Schwarzenegger's office prefers
not to receive automated emails, so they require these extra steps:

Before you click SUBMIT at the bottom of the Governor's email form below, copy the petition text at the top right.
Highlight the text, right-click and copy it (Ctrl-C).
Complete the personal information and select PARK & RECREATION
for your subject.
Click SUBMIT.
Select PRO or CON. This function is currently meaningless, but required.
Right-click and paste your message into the form.
If the Governor's email form does not display properly below, you can open it yourself in a new browser window - http://gov.ca.gov/interact#email

I'm counting on you to do everything needed to keep Topanga State Park & Will Rogers State Historic Park open to the public. These parks are important to our quality of life, to the education of our children, and to small businesses in the area. And it's not safe to have these large parks in the city go unsupervised.

The proposal to close 48 state parks and beaches up and down the state would be a loss to Californians which is not justified by the potential savings, a microscopic fraction of the total budget.

I know how difficult it is to come to an agreement on the 2008-2009 budget, but it's your job to do the right thing - KEEP US AND OUR PARKS SAFE, KEEP THEM OPEN.

Delivering Our Petitions

2008-05-06T11:19:00.000-07:00

These photos show the Topanga Elementary School's Sixth Grade Class trip to Sacramento to deliver the petition asking that Topanga State Park and Will Rogers and Los Encinos State Historic Parks, and all our state parks be kept open. 17,000 signed!

The kids raised the money for their trip selling CDs of their original music.

Counting the petitions again. 16,800!

Sixth graders meet Jamie Chambers with KTLA-Channel 5 News the day before their trip

Loading petitions in the van.

The van leaving the parking lot at Topanga for early morning departure - it was still dark.

“I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.”
- John Muir

7 Hardcore Things You Can Do

2008-05-05T16:06:00.000-07:00

Download our petition and pass it around among your friends, or at work, or at church, or at school, or other community group. Here's the petition in MS Word or PDF document [NO LONGER AVAILABLE]. Please send completed petitions to:

Campaign To Save Topanga State Park PO Box 282 Topanga, CA 90290

Come to Topanga State Park to help out on one of our petition days.
Write a letter to the editor of your local paper.
Persuade your Chamber of Commerce to pass a resolution asking the Governor to keep Topanga State Park and the 47 other State Parks open.
Persuade your City Council and County Board of Supervisors to pass a resolution. L A County Supervisors passed one February 7th, 2008.
Advocate to keep our parks open on the Blog-o-sphere.
Add a link to Campaign To Save Topanga State Park to your website, MySpace or YouTube page, or your blog. To add an image link using our logo, copy this text into your web page:

<a href=http://www.SaveTopangaStatePark.org target="_blank"><img src="http://www.SaveTopangaStatePark.org/assets/CTS-TSP-logo-SMALL.gif" width="160" height="156" border="0"></a>

To add a text link, copy this text into your web page:
Learn more about the Campaign To Save Topanga State Park at <a href=http://www.SaveTopangaStatePark.org target="_blank">SaveTopangaStatePark.org</a>

Fliers & Forms: Document Center

2008-05-04T20:13:00.000-07:00

Campaign Fliers, Petitions,
Suggested Resolutions and more
all in downloadable PDF format
[NOW DISCONTINUED]

All of these documents print on standard size 8-1/2" x 11" paper. Some are designed to be handed out or posted on a bulletin board - we've been printing them bright yellow paper as indicated in the descriptions. Otherwise we're printing on white paper. To save money, we've changed the petition to be black ink only. The resolution has several places to substitute the organization's name in - the text is marked in red.

Mentioning Topanga and 47 other parks:

FLIER - Topanga Can't Be Closed (single-sided full page SOLAR YELLOW)

FLIER - Topanga Fact Sheet (single-sided full page)

FLIER - 3 Things To Do (single-sided full page SOLAR YELLOW)

PETITION - Don't Close Topanga or ANY state parks (single-sided full page)

Mentioning Los Encinos, Topanga, Will Rogers and 45 other state parks:

FLIER - What Do We Lose - Bullet Points (4 per page so they need to be cut up, and double-sided so there are two files - front and back SOLAR YELLOW)

FLIER - When Will The Budget Cuts Stop (single-sided full page SOLAR YELLOW)

PETITION - No Park Closures (single-sided full page)

RESOLUTION - Letter sent by Los Angeles County Supervisors (single-sided two pages)

RESOLUTION - Passed by Santa Monica Canyon Civic Association (single-sided two pages)

RESOLUTION - suggested to Neighborhood Councils & Chambers of Commerce (single-sided two pages)

3 Simple Things You Can Do

2008-04-04T17:16:00.000-07:00

Sign our [NO LONGER AVAILABLE] online petition. It automatically sends an email to Assembly Member Julia Brownley and Senator Sheila Kuehl (both Topanga State Park and Will Rogers State Historic Park are in their districts) and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. You don't have to be a registered voter, and you don't need to live in Assembly District 41. But, in order to show that you are a real person, you'll be asked for your name and address. Please give it, since elected officials get spam too, and they ignore anonymous emails.

Send an email to Governor Schwarzenegger.
This used to be included with the petition above in a single step,
but the Governor's office can get 10,000 emails in a day - too many
for his staff to route by hand. Anyway, it's a little more work
now, but we'll walk you through [NO LONGER AVAILABLE] his
email website.

Join our Campaign for 10,000 Signatures by May 1st.

Let's get enough signatures so the Governor takes park closures out of his Revised Budget, due out May 15. Supporters of Clear Lake State Park in rural Lake County (population 66,000) have already gathered 6000 signatures. Here in Los Angeles, we can do better.

Download the petition as a [NO LONGER AVAILABLE] PDF document, grab a clipboard and get started. Ask your family, friends, co-workers, ask everybody. Spend some extra time you come to the park - people there still don't know about the closures and they all want to sign the petition.

Put it out on a clipboard at your business (especially you retailers and service businesses near the parks). Will your favorite bike shop, gym or coffee house host a clipboard? Use your imagination here. Mail completed petitions to:

Campaign To Save Topanga State Park
[DISCONTINUED PO BOX]
Topanga, CA 90290

The 48 Parks To Be Closed

2008-03-21T15:56:00.000-07:00

State Park (48 of 214)	Visitation	Revenue	Per Visitor	County
Picacho SRA	94,999	$41,465	$0.44	Imperial
Los Encinos SHP	9,500	$2,050	$0.22	Los Angeles
Pio Pico SHP	***	***		Los Angeles
Santa Susana Pass SHP	11,775	***		Los Angeles
Topanga SP	455,461	$157,326	$0.35	Los Angeles
Will Rogers SHP	245,602	$361,110	$1.47	Los Angeles
California Citrus SHP	32,909	$19,642	$0.60	Riverside
Mount San Jacinto SP	77,287	$398,762	$5.16	Riverside
Salton Sea SRA	232,652	$93,920	$0.40	Riverside
Providence Mountains SRA	15,057	$37,928	$2.52	San Bernardino
Estero Bluffs SP	***	***		San Luis Obispo
Harmony Headlands SP	***	***		San Luis Obispo
Los Osos Oaks SR	20,350	***		San Luis Obispo
Montana de Oro SP	986,411	$331,562	$0.34	San Luis Obispo
Morro Strand SB	153,548	$244,037	$1.59	San Luis Obispo
San Simeon SP	773,993	$645,991	$0.83	San Luis Obispo
William Randolph Hearst Memorial SB	562,234	$2,437	$0.00	San Luis Obispo
La Purisima Mission SHP	170,306	***		Santa Barbara
Del Norte Coast Redwoods SP	60,532	$189,013	$3.12	Del Norte
Grizzly Creek Redwoods SP	31,618	$57,354	$1.81	Humboldt
Anderson Marsh SHP	43,499	$2,060	$0.05	Lake
Clear Lake SP	100,166	$332,782	$3.32	Lake
Wassama Round House SHP	***	***		Madera
Tomales Bay SP	118,918	$75,356	$0.63	Marin
California State Mining & Mineral Museum	14,556	$16,386	$1.13	Mariposa
Manchester SB	74,086	$31,007	$0.42	Mendocino
George Hatfield SRA	229,768	$10,641	$0.05	Merced
Great Valley Grasslands SP	16,099	***		Merced
McConnell SRA	38,066	$81,243	$2.13	Merced
Fort Ord Dunes SP	***	***		Monterey
Fremont Peak SHP	18,820	$24,429	$1.30	Monterey
Limeklin SP	33,832	$167,181	$4.94	Monterey
Malakoff Diggins SHP	12,990	$44,250	$3.41	Nevada
Plumas-Eureka SP	58,572	$109,344	$1.87	Plumas
Governor's Mansion SHP	30,219	$40,223	$1.33	Sacramento
State Indian Museum	37,813	$18,473	$0.49	Sacramento
Sutter's Fort SHP	137,013	$198,022	$1.45	Sacramento
Candlestick Point SRA	97,078	$625,890	$6.45	San Francisco
Portola Redwoods SP	36,277	$161,136	$4.44	San Mateo
Henry W. Coe SP	34,395	$67,344	$1.96	Santa Clara
Benicia Capitol SHP	6,892	$18,646	$2.71	Solano
Benicia SRA	246,825	$37,818	$0.15	Solano
Armstrong Redwoods SR	813,411	$130,058	$0.16	Sonoma
Austin Creek SRA	236,073	***		Sonoma
Petaluma Adobe SHP	27,686	$7,305	$0.26	Sonoma
William B. Ide Adobe SP	25,894	$3,186	$0.12	Tehama
Woodson Bridge SRA	27,655	$43,607	$1.58	Tehama
Railtown 1897 SHP	64,152	***		Tuolumne
SUBTOTALS CLOSED PARKS	1,892,945	$1,505,302	$0.80

State Beach (16 of 64)	Visitation	Revenue	Per Visitor	County
Bolsa Chica SB	4,328,553	$3,290,641	$0.76	Orange
Doheny SB	2,177,232	$1,933,988	$0.89	Orange
Huntington SB	3,711,596	$2,934,539	$0.79	Orange
San Clemente SB	540,833	$1,462,427	$2.70	Orange
Cardiff SB	1,330,007	$111,097	$0.08	San Diego
Carlsbad SB	***	***		San Diego
San Eliijo SB	840,932	$1,886,283	$2.24	San Diego
San Onofre SB	2,578,951	$2,833,784	$1.10	San Diego
Silver Strand SB	398,335	$1,074,740	$2.70	San Diego
South Carlsbad SB	1,581,656	$2,208,853	$1.40	San Diego
Torrey Pines SB	1,508,046	***		San Diego
Manresa SB	207,380	$250,101	$1.21	Monterey
Natural Bridges SB	829,847	$64,950	$0.08	Monterey
New Brighton SB	1,739,248	$841,738	$0.48	Monterey
Seacliff SB	2,555,926	$704,989	$0.28	Monterey
Sunset SB	224,870	$453,341	$2.02	Monterey
SUBTOTALS CLOSED BEACHES	24,553,412	$20,051,471	$0.82
SUBTOTAL ALL PARKS & BEACHES	80,119,522	$85,739,516	$1.07

Data from the 2006/2007 California State Park System Statistical Report. *** Not counted by State Parks.

Topanga Co-op Preschool to Senator Kuehl

2008-03-03T16:29:00.000-08:00

Tuesday, February 19th, 2008
Senator Sheila Kuehl
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814

Dear Senator Kuehl,

Early this school year we at the Topanga Co-op Preschool took our children on a field trip to Trippet Ranch in Topanga State Park. As they walked the beautiful "Nature Walk" there, they talked about the plants, the animals and the mountains they saw, as well as the Pacific Ocean twinkling in the distance. If you have ever seen a young child commune with nature you know that it is a precious thing - so full and appreciative. And hopefully this experience will stay with these kids as they grow into adults who can help, in very real ways, to take care of this planet, which needs it so much.
It is this experience, in our children especially, that has drawn so many families to our area. The closing of the State Park here would be a huge blow to everyone who uses it, as well as to the health and vitality of our community, but perhaps the people who will feel it most acutely are our families. How will we explain to our kids that the Parks - these museums of natural beauty - are closed, off limits, in disrepair, dangerous, or one of many unknown consequences of having their funding pulled? The picture this paints of the world they will inherit from us is heartbreaking.
We hope that, for their sake - and for all of our sakes - you are able to avoid the proposed budget cuts. We pledge our support to this effort and will help in any way we can. This is one of those cases - as come up so often for all parents - where we realize that the magnitude of our responsibility is huge. We hope and pray that we are all able to rise to the occasion.
Yours Sincerely,

The Parent-Owners of the Topanga Co-op Preschool

* * * * *

Thursday, February 27, 2008
To the Parents of the Topanga Co-op Preschool,

Thank you for your letter describing the likely effects of the proposed budget cuts on Topanga State Park. As I hope you know, I'm every bit as worried and distressed as you are. If it were in my power to guarantee a restoration of those funds, I would certainly do it. Please understand, however, that each of in the legislature is receiving equally valid and heartfelt pleas on behalf of a much-too-large number of equally vital programs that are in danger of losing funding.

This problem cannot be solved program by program. Our state is facing a budget crisis that must be resolved as a whole. Not only do we have to deal with the ‘08-09 budget, we must make drastic reductions in the current year budget. The overall recession facing our country; the systematic fleecing of state monies by out-of-state energy contracts; the uncertainty of the international marketplace, on which our state, as a leader in trade, depends; the steadfast insistence by the Administration to maintain a set of tax cuts for upper income earners have combined to make our future very uncertain.

Please be assured that California's State Parks, in all its aspects, remain a top priority for me. I will do everything I can, as a legislator, to preserve those programs, especially those related to health and education that serve the most immediate needs of our state's people, as well as maintenance of our natural resources. I will not mislead you by saying that I can now predict the fate of any one agency or program.

Thank you for taking the time to share your insights with me. As always, if my office can provide you with any further information or assistance, with regard to this or any matter, please don't hesitate to let us know.

Sincerely,
Sheila James Kuehl
California State Senator
District 23

Our Banners

2008-03-01T11:41:00.000-08:00

We posted banners on Topanga Canyon Boulevard to draw people's attention to the possibility of park closures. Thanks to the property owners, Topanga Town Council and Chamber of Commerce.

Please take a moment to support our park. Sign our petition, either in person or online.

“God has cared for these trees, saved them from drought, disease, avalanches, and a thousand tempests and floods. But he cannot save them from fools.”
- John Muir

Why We Love Topanga

2008-02-28T11:45:00.000-08:00

This beautiful slide show reminds us what we love about Topanga State Park. Our thanks to Gary Valle.

“The mountains are calling and I must go.”
- John Muir

Letter To The Governor

2008-02-15T16:21:00.000-08:00

Monday, January 21, 2008

Dear Governor Schwarzenegger:

I am writing to strongly oppose efforts to close any California State Parks. Your proposal to close 48 of them and take lifeguards off 16 beaches is devastating to those of us who use and volunteer in them. I urge you to work hard to stop these cuts from getting into the budget.

Shutting parks based on revenue generation is contrary to their purpose. We did not purchase these properties with our bond money to generate revenue for the State's general fund!

Shutting parks breaks a promise to the people of California, made when the parks were purchased, that they would be available and accessible to everyone.

Shutting parks based on comparison with beach attendance is a recipe for closing all our wilderness parks. Are we only to have parks with a national reputation and the southern beaches?

Shutting parks will reduce their public support, and although it may not happen this year, after they've been closed several years we will face proposals to sell them. The logic will be obvious - if we can't use them why should we pay to keep them up? Especially here in the Santa Monica Mountains, where Topanga Canyon and Santa Monica Canyon are worth hundreds of millions to developers. To close parks without a clear plan to reopen them is to attack their existence as parks. This must be stopped now.

No, the 48 parks slated for closure represent some of the most significant cultural, historic, and natural resources in the state, and they must be preserved. Their preservation does not automatically result from State ownership, it comes from the Californians who actually use them and care about them: families, joggers, hikers, bikers, campers, equestrians, sun-bathers, surfers, picnickers, photographers, bird watchers, first time visitors, from you and me. It comes from our sense of ownership.

I'm concerned about the uncounted thousands of people who enter Will Rogers State Historic Park and Topanga State Park each year on horseback, bicycle and foot from dozens of points along the 30 mile border of these adjoining parks. What will we have to spend to stop their entry? Since they come in from their neighborhoods and over fire roads and not through public entrances, what gates and fences will have to be installed? And given the laughably low level of maintenance and service there now, how could it possibly cost less to patrol for trespassers?

I'm concerned about the hundreds of schoolchildren who visit Will Rogers State Historic Park and Topanga State Park each year on school field trips for lessons on California history and the environment. With these first experiences many begin a lifetime of visits - these are the future voters whose support can make the continued existence of the California State Park system possible, or whose lack of exposure can make it unnecessary.

Your proposal to close State Parks will have an immediate and negative impact on our quality of life. Please let me know what you're doing so that these beautiful parks remain open.

Sincerely,
Paul Rathje

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Monday, February 11, 2008

Subject: Please don't close California's state parks

Thank you for writing Governor Schwarzenegger and sharing your thoughts on the budget crisis' impact on the California State Park system. The Governor appreciates your input during this difficult budget year.

California is blessed with one of the world's most dynamic and diverse economies, but when it comes to the state budget process, it is highly dysfunctional. The economic slowdown and autopilot state spending have created a budget shortfall of $3.3 billion for the current fiscal year, and it could grow to an estimated $14.5 billion by July 2009 - if nothing is done.

Sacramento must find a better way to connect spending to revenues, just like every family and business in the state must do. If less money comes in, it must also spend less. But right now, that is not happening. Although modest revenue growth is projected during the next year - despite a weakened housing market and the subprime mortgage crisis - automatic formulas would increase spending by 7.3-percent, which is $7.6 billion.

That is simply unsustainable. Since the Governor took office in 2003, he has tried twice to impose permanent stability, predictability and discipline on the budget process, but his efforts did not succeed. Permanent spending obligations have left California's finances fundamentally out of balance and sealed the fate of future budgets. To combat this crisis, the Governor has proposed 10-percent reductions in nearly every General Fund program, including State Parks, from their projected 2008-09 funding levels, and he called a special session of the Legislature to begin many of these cuts this year. He took an across-the-board approach to make these difficult decisions as fair as possible.

To achieve this difficult reduction, State Parks will be reducing both its permanent and seasonal workforce. As a result, 48 park units will be closed or partially closed to the public and placed in caretaker status. Under caretaker status, parks are secured and rudimentary maintenance is preformed to keep the facilities in good health and ready for reopening when funds become available. By closing parks and eliminating positions, remaining resources can be consolidated and shifted to other parks to provide for services necessary to keep those parks open and operating. While 48 parks are affected by closures, 230 parks - or 83% of the system - will remain open.

Government cannot continue to put people through the binge and purge of the budget process that has now led to park closures. That's why the Governor has also proposed a Budget Stabilization Act to fix the budget mess. Under his reforms, Sacramento wouldn't be able to spend all the money in good years. Instead, it would set a portion aside to stabilize the budget in down years. If a deficit develops during the year, his plan would automatically trigger lower funding levels already agreed upon by the Legislature so it won't have to scramble to close billion-dollar gaps. Had this system been in place the past decade, California would not be facing a $14.5 billion deficit.

As Governor Schwarzenegger works with his partners in the Legislature, he will keep your concerns in mind. With your help, we will turn today's temporary problem into a permanent victory for the people of California.

Sincerely,
Jared Bocka
Office of Constituent Affairs

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Monday, February 11, 2008

Dear Jared,

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my email to the Governor. As a life-long resident of California I am fully aware of the alternate impacts of the economic cycle, and their perverse role in the politics of appropriations. Because of the way he came to office, Governor Schwarzenegger uniquely asked to lead California's budget process and has a special responsibility for the result. And as you suggest in your email, he has so far failed.

But to fix that mess on the back of State Parks? Can you point to a more frugal agency? If you spent as much time in a park as I do at Topanga State Park, you'd see how few rangers there are, how uncomfortable their working conditions can be, and the minimal amount of maintenance done. Clearly there isn't much more money to be wrung out of the State Parks budget or we wouldn't be talking about closing parks.

You say that it is somehow fair that Topanga State Park (closest to me and the park I use most, volunteer in, and love) be closed, because other parks will remain open. But State Parks has taken a big hit during every downturn since the 1980s without a full recovery during upturns. What the Governor proposes will result in more closures and eventually the loss of the closed parks. We, as taxpayers, bought and paid for these parks, and now the Governor is proposing their slow destruction. That is something I won't help the Governor do.

It's time to draw a line around California State Parks. So I'm participating in the statewide campaign Save Our State Parks, and my friends and I have created a local organization Campaign To Save Topanga State Park. We're passing petitions, placing local ads, contacting our legislators and organizing to stop this attack on California's beautiful state parks.

We want the Governor to put that $9 million [actually $14 million - ed.] back in State Parks budget.

Sincerely,
Paul Rathje
Campaign To Save Topanga State Park
www.SaveTopangaStatePark.org

What's At Stake?

2008-02-07T16:51:00.000-08:00

CLOSED:	50 miles of trails for hikers, mountain bikers, runners & equestrians
CLOSED:	18 miles of the famed Backbone Trail
CLOSED:	Unique outdoor classroom for thousands of schoolchildren
LOST:	700,000 visitor trips past businesses near Topanga & Will Rogers
RISKED:	Damage from unsupervised visitors
RISKED:	Sale of parklands (legislation recently introduced)
RISKED:	Long term survival of State Park system

Schwarzenegger's Proposal

2008-02-07T16:48:00.000-08:00

To close a projected California state budget deficit of $16 billion, Governor Schwarzenegger has proposed a 10% across-the-board reduction for state agencies. The total budget amount - $101 billion. If this passes, 7000 state employees will lose their jobs in the next 18 months.

State Parks has been forced to draw up plans to close 48 parks and cut seasonal employee hours in half. Although savings of $17 million is expected, closures will cause a loss of income of almost $4 million. Last year the public visited the parks listed for closure 6.5 million times.

Three parks close to us are on the closure list - Los Encinos State Historic Park (located at Balboa and Ventura in Encino), Topanga State Park (in the Santa Monica Mountains) and Will Rogers State Historic Park (entrance via Sunset).

We are still a bit stunned and wholly outraged. The state park system is to be decimated over just $14 million! We're not here to say where the money should come from, just that it should be found.

But the news gets worse. Assembly Bill 2392, introduced by Assembly Member Bonnie Garcia of Cathedral City, would declare the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would designate 48 units of the state park system as excess property of the state so they could be sold, or as the bill says "disposed of." The bill requires a simple majority to pass and we believe it unlikely to succeed. But you can see where the tax-cut folks and their big money allies, the developers, are headed. And what can happen if we don't speak up - we could lose Topanga to subdivision.

Schwarzenegger has an enormous budget problem. We can take this seriously or we can waste time -

guessing about the Governor's real motives,
believing that he can't really be serious,
waiting for the Legislature to do the right thing,
ignoring the permanent damage that can be done to State Parks,
imagining how we personally will get into the park anyway,
ignoring the risks of injuries and fires in an unprotected park?

Or, are we going to defend our parks? Let's take action to

protect our own beautiful Topanga State Park,
make common cause with our neighbors at Los Encinos & Will Rogers State Historic Parks,
join the statewide Save Our State Parks campaign
protect the natural and historic conservation purpose of all state parks,
protect the long-term financial viability of the state park system.