Having avoided the worst-case scenario of complete closure, the
San Juan Bautista State Historic Park and Fremont Peak will instead
have reduced days of operation at least through the end of
June.
Having avoided the worst-case scenario of complete closure, the San Juan Bautista State Historic Park and Fremont Peak will instead have reduced days of operation at least through the end of June.
Starting this week, Fremont Peak is closed Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and its 22-site campground was closed a month earlier than normal. The historic park, which includes the Plaza Hotel, Castro-Breen Adobe and other historic buildings in San Juan, will continue the Monday closure implemented in August to help manage a reduce state parks budget.
“The worst-case scenario was complete closure so it’s nice to know we’re not going to close,” said Eddie Huarache, Gavilan Sector superintendent for the state parks. “The flip side is we still have to work with a lower budget so there’s no way we can work at the same level” as before.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in September ordered a more than $14 million reduction in the state parks budget instead of closing as many as 100 parks, which he had proposed earlier in the year to help balance the state’s budget. More than half of the 279 state parks will be affected by reduced hours and maintenance this fiscal year – which runs through June 30 – and this year’s state budget predicts another $22 million parks budget cut will be necessary for the next year, which starts July 1.
“The last thing we were told is that the state finance department will work with state parks in January, which is when we’ll have a greater sense of how things will be next year,” Guaracha said. “At this point we’re optimistic but were going to have to wait until the governor determines what allocations state parks will have for next year.”
For the full story see the Pinnacle on Friday.
