From: Rosemary Johnston
If any of you could go to Sacramento March 22 to lobby to keep our state parks in San Diego open at least part of the year, that would be awesome. Note below, travel funding is available!! Let’s keep an eye out for the list of park closures to be released mid-February!!
Keep reading for details:
From: Linsey Fredenburg-Humes [mailto:Linsey@calparks.org]
On Behalf Of Advocacy
Sent: Wednesday, February 02, 2011 9:27 AM
To: Rosemary Johnston
Subject: RE: Concerned about closure of state parks in San Diego County
Rosemary,
Thank you so much for taking the time to email us, I apologize for my delay in getting back to you. The California State Parks Foundation is the only statewide nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection and enhancement of California’s 278 state parks. We are an independent nonprofit organization that, like you is deeply concerned with keeping our state parks open, accessible and safe for all Californians.
I appreciate your concerns regarding Palomar Mountain State Park and Border Fields State Park. As you know, the Governor’s proposed budget for the next fiscal year includes an $11 million cut to the General Fund for state parks .The cut is expected to double by the next fiscal year, for an ongoing, permanent General Fund cut to the Department of $22 million by July 1, 2012 and beyond. This is almost a 20 percent cut of the Department’s total General Fund, which is supposed to be the core source of public funding for state parks. With this cut, the Governor has indicated that the Department of Parks and Recreation will have to close parks. The Department is currently looking into exactly which parks will close, and how they will implement these closures. We expect a list of park closures to be announced by the Department in mid-February.
As an independent nonprofit organization, we do not have a role in this process, however we are continuing our advocacy efforts to make sure that the Legislature and the Governor know that Californians strongly support their state park system and do not want to see park closures. We would greatly appreciate your participation in our efforts.
We do have an upcoming event, Park Advocacy Day which would be a fantastic opportunity for you to come to Sacramento and help us send a powerful message to policymakers about the importance of state parks. The event is being held on Tuesday, March 22. You can find more details and register online at http://www.calparks.org/takeaction/pad.html . We do also have a travel grant program for this event to help with travel expenses for people traveling more than 100 miles. Please let me know if you would like more information.
I will also add you to my outreach email list to let you know when we receive information on the park closures, and identify other actions to take.
Please contact me with any additional questions you might have. Thank you again for your support!
Linsey Fredenburg-Humes
Grassroots Manager
California State Parks Foundation
ph. 916-442-2119
fax 916-442-2809
www.calparks.org
From: Rosemary Johnston [mailto:rjohnston@interfaithshelter.org]
Sent: Monday, January 31, 2011 12:11 PM
To: Advocacy
Subject: Concerned about closure of state parks in San Diego County
Hi, we own a cabin on Palomar Mountain here in San Diego and greatly enjoy hiking in the state park there. What can be done to keep it from closing permanently? Also, I am involved with Friends of Friendship Park, which is located within Border Field State park and that also is threatened with closure. What can we do?
Rosemary Johnston
Executive Director
Interfaith Shelter Network of San Diego
(619)702-5399
3530 Camino del Rio No., s. 301
San Diego, Ca. 92108
Palomar Mountain News 
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