Our local parks, Indian Grinding Rocks and Calaveras Big Trees, are on the cut list.
80% of California State Parks are threatened with closure, including Mono Lake Tufa, South Yuba River, Emerald Bay, Tahoe, Ed Z'berg Sugar Pine Point, Calaveras Big Trees and over 200 more
Beginning July 1st, the Governor will cut California State Parks core funding in half and then eliminate all core funding in twelve months. Without this money, there will be no choice but to close up to 80% of our state park system.
Please take action now and click http://ga3.org/campaign/budget_may09 now to send letters to legislators and the Governor and http://www.calparks.org/takeaction/closurelist.html to see the full list of possible closures and legislators (see attachment).
The Governor's short-sighted proposal will impact every California resident. It is the very definition of "penny-wise, pound foolish". Consider the facts:
FACT: The General Fund budget that state parks receive accounts for less than 1/10 of one percent of the entire state budget.
FACT: Cutting the General Fund contribution to State Parks would reduce the $23.4 billion deficit by only .25 percent.
FACT: Last year alone, there were over 80 million visitors to state parks – and all indications are that this year was going to be even higher.
FACT: For every dollar that funds the parks, $2.35 is returned to the state's General Fund through economic activities in the communities surrounding the parks.
That means eliminating all funding for state parks could actually result in the state losing over $350 million dollars in revenue and untold number of jobs.
If you can attend Tuesday's Legislative Budget Conference Committee in Sacramento, it may be the only opportunity for public testimony in front of the Legislature on this issue.
So, please help keep our State Parks open by taking action now: http://ga3.org/campaign/budget_may09
Kay Ogden
kay@sierranevadaalliance.org
Development Director
Sierra Nevada Alliance
P.O. Box 7989
South Lake Tahoe, CA 96158
ph- 530. 542. 4546 ext 304
fax- 530. 542. 4570
www.sierranevadaalliance.org
Protecting and restoring the Sierra’s majestic mountains, roaring rivers, still clear waters, rural communities and teeming wildlife for future generations.
