Please, gov. don’t shoot the puppy
Just hang a
”
Closed
”
sign on the great outdoors.
As ridiculous, as impossible, as that sounds, that’s part of the
governor’s proposal to rescue California from its fatal addiction
to spending more than it takes in.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last week issued a get-tough state of
the state address and followed that up with a budget proposal that
amounts to comic opera.
Please, gov. don’t shoot the puppy
Just hang a “Closed” sign on the great outdoors.
As ridiculous, as impossible, as that sounds, that’s part of the governor’s proposal to rescue California from its fatal addiction to spending more than it takes in.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last week issued a get-tough state of the state address and followed that up with a budget proposal that amounts to comic opera.
The governor rode into office because he and his handlers know a thing or two about politics and because he promised to be a leader who would rise above petty partisanship.
Instead, last week he introduced a budget designed to rile the public and goad the Legislature into finding other cuts or raising taxes.
Among other things, he proposes deep cuts in vocational education, the release of thousands of prison inmates and the wholesale closure of 43 state parks.
It’s nearly impossible to cut spending without affecting public education, since it’s the biggest chunk of the state budget by far. The prison guards’ lobby is so powerful that prisons have been one of the state’s most robust growth industries. Even though letting bad guys go is something that makes most of us uneasy, the net effect of returning non-violent offenders to the streets is likely to go unnoticed by the rest of us.
But parks?
I’m reminded of a National Lampoon magazine cover years ago that featured a photo of an adorable puppy with a revolver pressed to its head. Bold faced type at the bottom of the cover screamed “BUY THIS MAGAZINE OR THE PUPPY GETS IT.”
Schwarzenegger knows better than the rest of us that the public is going to howl over the proposed cuts. And that’s just what he wants, I’d guess.
In partisan Sacramento, that’s the way the game is played. Now legislators appear to be left with the Hobson’s choice of agreeing to punitive cuts that will lead to park closures or finding money to keep parks open.
The issue is one that came home with a resounding thud last week, when it was revealed that both Henry Coe State Park and Fremont Peak State Park were among those set for closure. Not only is Coe California’s second largest state park, by far the largest in Northern California, it protects a wilderness at our doorstep. The vast swath of the Diablo Range stretching from Pacheco Pass to the mountains east of Morgan Hill is dotted with lakes, historical sites and genuine wilderness.
Fremont Peak is the crown of the Gabilan Range. The small park surrounding its summit offers stunning views from San Jose to Santa Cruz to King City. On rare winter days, the Sierra can even be seen from its rocky top. It is the first place the American flag was ever raised over California. Most important, its campgrounds, set in a grove of black oaks, offer an uncrowded, quiet place for Bay Area residents to recharge their spirits.
That leaves our region with just two state parks, Hollister Hills, which caters to off-highway vehicles and offers only limited opportunities for the rest of us, and the buildings surrounding the plaza at Mission San Juan Bautista.
How does one close the outdoors, exactly? At over 87,000 acres, fences will not keep people out of Coe. But those who do venture past the “Park Closed” signs can count on no help in the event of an emergency. Fremont Peak can be gated, but again, trespass is the likely result.
Once the parks are closed, decay will inevitably set in. The cost of deferred maintenance will ultimately be staggering.
And it’s ultimately unnecessary, as events yet to occur will bear out.
It’s been our family’s experience that different park systems run in profoundly different ways.
State parks seem to have a lot of staff and a lot of rules. Typically, no dogs are allowed on trails. Interpretive programs are not uncommon. A paid staff member, likely with a college degree, collects entrance fees.
National forests operate differently. When we visit campgrounds in that system, fees are often collected by a retired couple, campground hosts who keep an eye on things in exchange for the opportunity to park their rig in the campground free of charge.
There are no interpretive programs, few rules, and, mostly, things seem to work pretty well.
My wife and I attended a conference some years ago to explore how to assess and map California’s resources. One of the other participants directed state parks operations in the region. His point stayed with me: the practice of the state has been to acquire sensitive or otherwise very significant lands. The problem is that many of them are so sensitive that the public can only be granted access under carefully controlled conditions.
I’m not saying that’s wrong. I am saying that there has to be a better solution than putting a bullet into that National Lampoon puppy’s head.
