State Parks Closure Update

06/13/09

Dear Friends,

Thanks to you, the response has been fierce to Governor Schwarzenegger's proposal to close and abandon almost every state park in California, including every single state park and beach in Santa Cruz County. Working together, park supporters are having an impact locally, in Sacramento and on the Web:

-43,700: faxes/emails sent to Governor Schwarzenegger
-4,800: faxes/emails sent to State Senator Simitian
-3,900: faxes/emails sent to Assemblymember Monning
-3,900: faxes/emails sent to State Senator Maldonado
-330: faxes/emails sent to Assemblymember Caballero
-1,515: Fans on our Facebook site
-600: People who attended our June 1st rally at Natural Bridges State Beach

Despite all this, the threat of closure remains all too real and we must continue to fight for our parks. The state legislature's budget conference committee continues to meet to debate the budget for state parks and has not taken a vote on closing the parks.

Your voice is vital during this process. On June 2nd, I joined a busload of supporters from Santa Cruz to testify before legislators. The good news is that on that day, as well as at a hearing held June 11, legislators did not hold a vote on whether to close the parks. The bad news is that pressure from Governor Schwarzenegger continues to build, with a vote in the budget conference committee likely to happen this coming week.

In addition to the obvious need to keep parks open for public access, educational and environmental reasons, the local and statewide economic boost provided by our parks and beaches is huge -- in Santa Cruz County alone, state parks and beaches generated an estimated $720 million between July 1, 2007, and July 1, 2008. That's truly an amazing amount of money when you consider the governor's closure plan will save a total of $70 million annually in the state budget!

Our local governments and business community get it. With support from organizations like the Felton Business Association and the Capitol-Soquel Chamber of Commerce, businesses are joining the fight by lending their names to the cause. You can add your business or organization to our growing list of park supporters.

This last week the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution in support of keeping our parks open. Thank you Supervisor Mark Stone and fellow Supervisors Neal Coonerty, Tony Campos, John Leopold and Ellie Pirie. And also thank you to the Watsonville City Council, led by Mayor Antonio Rivas and Mayor Pro Tem Luis Alejo, for passing a similar resolution.

So what can we do to keep up the momentum? TAKE ACTION:

1. Send a message to the budget conference committee members, urging them to provide funding to save our state parks (http://ga3.org/campaign/budget_june09)

2. Add your business or organization to our growing list of park supporters (http://www.thatsmypark.org/news_pdf/Local%20BusinessesOganizationsfinal.pdf)

3. DONATE to Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks (http://www.thatsmypark.org/donate_form.php)

4. STAY INVOLVED
--Visit our Website for regular updates: www.thatsmypark.org
--Join our fan site on Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Friends-of-Santa-Cruz-State-Parks/
--Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/ThatsMyPark

5. KEEP VISITING OUR PARKS!

Thanks, and see you in the parks!

Bonny Hawley
Executive Director