Short-term funding solutions for state parks emerging, one by one
While not final yet, a few nonprofits and public agencies are in various stages of developing proposals to run parks in their communities.
National Park Service rescues three Northern California state parks
The National Park Service is stepping in to preserve and prevent harm to national parks that overlap boundaries with state parks and has also come up with new ways to raise some additional funding.
Rethinking and reinventing state park financing
The state park operations and funding model of yesteryear is cleary broken. Around the state, park advocates are looking for creative solutions to keep the beloved parks in their communities open.
California State Park Crisis featured on KQED Forum
Can nonprofits save California State Parks?
Nonprofits may soon run California State Parks to prevent closures
On August 31, The California Senate passed a bill to allow nonprofits to run California State Parks as 70 parks face closure between September 2011 and July 2012.
Nonprofit signs agreement to fund Santa Cruz Mission State Historic Park
Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks, the educational partner to Santa Cruz County parks since 1976, agreed to raise $45,000 per year to prevent the park from closing on July 1 due to state budget cuts.
Jack London State Historic Park becomes first park saved under new law, AB 42
The law authorizes California State Parks to enter into operating agreements directly with up to 20 nonprofits to save parks from closure.
States are trying new ways to raise funds for parks amid nationwide crisis
As severe state budget cuts afflict the entire country, California is not alone in this parks funding crisis. Park systems, notably state park systems, are struggling to stay open. Many states [...]
Yosemite became world’s first nationally protected park 150 years ago
In 1864 a forward-thinking United States Senator from California by the name of John Conness introduced a bill to protect Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa grove of giant sequoias for all time. [...]
Sunset Magazine sparks conversation about the future of water
Amid the deepening drought in California, recently I attended a convening at Sunset in Menlo Park to discuss “The Future of Water” in California and the West. Academics, water district managers, [...]