Hi Friends, I went to a party in beautiful Topanga Canyon last night and heard from some of the locals more about what is happening about Park closures. It sounded like they were saying that Schwarzenegger is trying ultimately to close Topanga State Park and allow it to be sold to developers! To BUILD ON! As I understand it, a State Park is preserved to keep green spaces, it is for public use, not private gain. Please read this, go to their website www.savetopangastatepark.org
Pass on this info, email everyone you know, sign the petition, talk to your friends and take political action !
(On the website is a section that gives you all of the pertinent emails and phone numbers.)
Go for a hike! See some wildflowers, gorgeous! (while we still can!)
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Governor Schwarzenegger's Proposal
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.
What's At Stake?
• CLOSED: 50 mi. of trails for hikers, mountain bikers, runners & equestrians
• CLOSED: 18 miles of the famed Backbone Trail
• CLOSED: Unique outdoor classroom for 1000s 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
Frugality At California State Parks
California State Parks has a 25 year history of staff and funding cuts in response to state budget crisis.
A first response, begun during the fiscal crisis of the 1980s, was to temporarily put off maintenance to roofs, bathrooms, roads, fences and trails. The department estimates the cost to complete deferred repairs at about $1 billion. Periodically the legislature addresses the backlog as it did with a one time $250 million appropriation in 2006/2007. It seems like a lot of money unless you understand that the backlog will increase about $117 million this year.
During a budget crisis in the 1990s, California State Parks cut 572 positions and 30% of managers and supervisors. Over the last five years General Fund revenue has been reduced by $65 million and only partially replaced with fees and transfers. The net result has been a $10.5 million loss of revenue to the department during that time. In 2003/2004 California State Parks eliminated 90 more positions and moved field staff out of leased buildings into modular units on State property.
The proposed cut for 2008/2009 is $13.3 million out of a total budget of $149 million. Staff will be cut by 136 permanent positions and 100,000 seasonal hours will be eliminated. The department has been authorized to have 2,467 permanent staff and approximately 2,700 seasonal staff.
To give a sense of the scale of these cuts, California State Parks estimates that in 1990-91 they spent $4.16 per park visit. The 2008/2009 budget proposal will bring that down to $2.80 per visit in inflation-adjusted 2006-07 dollars. People may talk loosely about "waste and fat in government," but they'd be wrong to talk that way about California State Parks.
Closing Topanga State Park Hurts Real People
According to the California State Park System Statistical Report, our park gets almost half a million visits a year. Only 13 of the 134 California State Parks and State Historic
Parks get more visitors. Why does the Governor want to close such a popular park? You know some of the tens of thousands of people who’ll be hurt: children on field trips and scouting expeditions, joggers, hikers, picnickers, equestrians, mountain bikers, families, neighbors: in other words you and me. We’re the people who worked hard to get this park in the first place!
Can 13,000 Acres Of Wilderness Park In Los Angeles Really Be Closed?
Our park’s 30 mile boundary is unfenced. Only the parking lots have gates. It’s accessible from the Backbone Trail, the unpaved portion of Mulholland, and hundreds of back-yards. People can’t really be kept out with fewer staff. What are the risks from unsupervised visitors? Is it fire-safe? What will be lost when maintenance is cut back? How can this actually save money?
Topanga is so beautiful this spring.
Here's a link to an excellent show of photographs taken at Topanga State Park by photographer Gary Valle (who joins us in opposition to any State Park closures). Thanks to Gary for showing why we love this place.
Five Parks to be Closed in LA County & Four Beaches in Orange County.
The five parks: Topanga State Park in the Santa Monica Mountains (12,666 acres of wilderness); Will Rogers State Historic Park in Pacific Palisades (189 acres & Rogers history); Los Encinos State Historic Park in Encino (living history); Pio Pico State Historic Park in Whittier (school tours); Santa Susana Pass State Historic Park in Chatsworth (671 acres of wilderness). The beaches are Bolsa Chica, Doheny, Huntington, and San Clemente. San Onofre State Beach, actually located in San Diego County, is also listed for closure. Here's a list of all 64 beach and park closures by County.
Who are we?
We're a group of private citizens and Topanga Canyon Docents asking California's Governor and Legislature to keep Topanga State Park, Will Rogers State Historic Park and all California's State Parks and Beaches OPEN.
info@SaveTopangaStatePark.org
