LOS ANGELES-AREA STATE HISTORIC PARKS TO PERMANENTLY CLOSE

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The Antelope Valley Indian Museum State Historic Park. Photo by Stephen Schafer.

A huge thank you to everyone who contacted Governor Brown urging him to sign Assembly Bill 42. On October 4, Governor Brown signed the bill, which will go into effect on January 1, 2012. The bill provides new, permissive authority to the State to work with qualified nonprofit organizations to help protect and keep as many parks open as possible.

With state park closures having begun in September, it’s critical that every effort be made to protect the parks. While AB 42 will not be the solution for every park on the closure list, it does provide more options that can help save state parks.

How You Can Help

Looking for ways to help?

• Speak out. Make sure your voice is heard by speaking out against park closures. Send a message to your elected officials urging them to take action to keep state parks open and protected.
• Visit a state park. The best way to show support for state parks is to visit them.
• Volunteer in your state parks. Take ownership of your state parks by making a powerful personal investment in them by volunteering your time.
• Spread the Word. Join the efforts, gather signatures from friends and colleagues who support state parks and send to the California State Parks Foundation so they can be delivered to policymakers, and campaign on Facebook to help strengthen the movement.

Background

Los Encinos State Historic Park. Photo by Konrad Summers on Flickr.

On May 12, the Conservancy honored the Antelope Valley Indian Museum State Historic Park with a 2011 Preservation Award for its outstanding restoration and recent reopening. Stabilizing and restoring the museum took nearly a decade of planning, two years of construction, and $1.4 million.

The day after receiving our award, the museum appeared on California State Parks’ list of seventy parks it plans to permanently close due to the state budget crisis.

Pio Pico State Historic Park. Photo by waltarrrrr on Flickr.

The list includes five state parks in Los Angeles County, four of which are historic parks. Historic and cultural resources are particularly at risk through these actions – forty percent of all state historic parks are targeted for closure in California.

Los Angeles-area state historic parks slated for closure include the Antelope Valley Indian Museum outside Lancaster, Los Encinos in Encino, Pio Pico in Whittier, and Santa Susana Pass in Chatsworth. Saddleback Butte in Lancaster (not historic) is also on the list.

The California State Parks Foundation is leading the statewide Save Our State Parks (SOS) Campaign, of which the Conservancy supports. In July, the Conservancy’s director of advocacy, Adrian Scott Fine, participated in a discussion led by Page & Turnbull of the real cost of closing state parks.

Santa Susana Pass. Photo by Laurie Avocado on Flickr.

The planned state park closures are in response to the $22 million budget cut enacted by Governor Jerry Brown and the Legislature earlier this year. Although State Parks has released lists of proposed park closures in the past, this is the first time in the hundred-year history of California’s state park system that they will actually implement the closures. They began in September and plan to be completed by July 2012.

In deciding which parks to keep open, park officials state that they tried to protect the most significant cultural and natural resources. Yet a disproportionate number of state parks targeted for closure contain significant historic buildings and sites.

Saddleback Butte. Photo by Ada Be on Flickr.

This is not the first time that California’s state parks have come under threat. In 2008 and 2010, the National Trust for Historic Preservation included California’s state park system on its list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places. The closure of state parks is a growing issue confronting more than thirty states across the country. After years of underfunding and deferred maintenance, many state parks struggle to support even basic day-to-day operations.

California has the largest state park system in the nation, with 278 parks, including fifty-one designated as state historic parks. California’s state parks recorded more than sixty-five million visits in 2010. As strong catalysts for heritage tourism, state parks are economic engines that contribute to the economy and overall are a good return on investment.

For More Information

Save Our State Parks Campaign, California State Parks Foundation

The Real Cost of Closing State Parks, Page & Turnbull

Antelope Valley Indian Museum State Historic Park: 2011 Preservation Award, Los Angeles Conservancy

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