Prarie Creek Redwoods State Park. Photo By Richard Sharp
It looks like California’s state parks will stay open after all….at least for the most part. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced Friday that his administration has found alternatives ways to make up for budget cuts
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This summer’s budget included 14 million dollars in cuts this fiscal year to state parks. Nearly half of that was penciled in by the Governor using his line-item veto authority. Parks officials said that meant about 100 parks would have to close. But the Schwarzenegger Administration didn’t like that plan. So they’ve come up with a new way to save that 14 million. And it will involve some service cuts. Jeff Macedo is a Schwarzenegger spokesman:
“you might have a park that is only open at the weekends, or like, if we see that there isn’t major demand on part of a campground, we might close off a loop or something like that.”
The biggest savings in the administration’s plan would come from reducing maintenance and canceling big equipment purchases, such as vehicles. About 80 million people visit California state parks each year.