Parks Bills Move to Governor’s Desk

Late last Thursday, the Legislature passed two important state park bills, AB 1589 and AB 1478, which we were very happy to see.

AB 1589 (Huffman) helps move state parks toward sustainability by providing a comprehensive and creative approach to searching for additional funding streams.

AB 1478 (Blumenfield) is a budget trailer bill that will direct a portion of the hidden funds to state parks and establishes a two-year moratorium on closing state parks.

Both bills have moved to Governor Brown’s desk. He has 30 days to sign or veto them. In the case of the budget trailer bill, he can “blue pencil” portions that contain appropriations, which would be akin to vetoing or reducing parts of the appropriations.

We  hope you will help us request the governor’s signature on AB 1478 in particular. You can send him a letter now.

Updates from Sacramento

The long road to stopping park closures. Photo by Michael Keel @ Mt. Tam

With the park closure deadline quickly approaching (July 1 for those of you who forgot), there is plenty of attention being paid to state parks in our Capitol.  Our legislators are looking for ways to find extra funding for parks, and some things are moving along successfully. Here’s a recap of recent action for easy tracking:

Budget
In late May the Legislature largely agreed on a funding proposal to help keep our state parks open. Dubbed the “Ongoing Sustainable Parks Proposal,” this plan includes some temporary transfers of funding from other programs to state parks and a direction for more innovation and efficiencies in parks management. This will now be part of ongoing budget deliberations.

Legislation
Assembly Bill (AB) 1589 (Huffman) passed 78-0 out of the Assembly and will now be heard in the Senate. AB 1589 is an omnibus state parks bill that establishes a variety of mechanisms to move state parks toward sustainability. Senate Bill 974 and Senate Bill 1078 (Evans) were also passed out of the Senate and will be heard in the Assembly.

Stayed tuned for more updates as this legislation (hopefully) moves along!

Hey Sacramento, We Mean Business

On Tuesday, we took to the streets of Sacramento to protest the closure of 70 state parks with a march and rally at the Capitol. Our rally cry? “Closing parks is bad for business.” We think we got the message across.

The rally event had three goals, and we accomplished what we set out to do.

Goal 1: Bring attention to the park closure issues.
Check: Lots of enthusiastic advocates joined us for the march and rally. They also helped deliver over 100 oversized postcards and thousands of petitions to the governor’s office.  Check out this video by Folk4Parks of the big drop, including our own Traci Verardo Torres telling Brown’s aides why this is such an important issue. They literally had to use a cart to move all of the petitions we brought in!  Side note: is that Gov. Brown walking into his office at 1:33? It’s hard to tell; he’s incognito.

Goal 2: Kick off our new ‘Closing Parks is Bad for Business Campaign,’ which will publicize the negative impacts park closures will have on California’s fragile economy.
Double Check: Several business leaders spoke to the rally crowd about how park closures impact their businesses, clientele and communities, including: John Severini, president/CEO of California Travel Association (CalTravel), Christina Strawbridge, owner of Christina S Fashion Destination in downtown Benicia, Christopher Grant Ward of Folk4Parks, and Kevin Murphy, general manager of Sports Leisure Vacations.

Goal 3: Get advocates to attend and testify at the joint legislative hearing of the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife and the Assembly Committee for Accountability & Administrative Review.
Checkmate: We certainly made an impression, as park advocates not only filled the hearing room, but spilled out into the hallway. If you weren’t able to be there, good news, you can watch the video on demand on the California Channel. Fair warning, it’s a three-part series (there was a lot to talk about!), so better make some popcorn for this trilogy.

Part I: Impact and Status of State Park Closures
Part II: Impact and Status of State Park Closures
Part III: Impact and Status of State Park Closures

Will closed parks be bad for your business? Let us know in the comments.

A Successful Week for Parks: Solutions Come Slowly but Surely

This week has brought some really good news for California state parks, and it’s only Thursday! Here’s a little recap, some resource links, and a general prediction of what good news lies ahead.

Tuesday

On Tuesday Gov. Brown signed AB 42. This was a huge accomplishment, and this bill certainly traveled a long and winding road. Some of you may recall visiting your legislators in the capitol to tell them about this bill way back in March. Well thankfully your hard work, and the work of those who signed petitions, sent letters and made phone calls, paid off! Thank you guys for supporting this bill all the way through.

So what does it mean to have this bill in place now? (Maybe you even want to read the bill, which you can do here.) It means we have new options for keeping state parks open. Now, instead of asking, “Can you provide money to keep this park open?” we can ask questions like, “Can your nonprofit run the campsites in this park?” or “Can your nonprofit operate this ENTIRE park?” The pool of resources just got a whole lot bigger, which is exciting.

Thursday

Earlier today, more good news came through the wire. California State Parks announced in a release that three of the state parks on the closure list are going to remain open thanks to the National Parks Service (NPS). Operations of Tomales Bay, Samuel P. Taylor, Del Norte Redwoods will now be supported by NPS. If you know these parks, you know this is a great partnership because of the close proximity of these state parks to national park land. We are very happy to see NPS continue its long history of working closely with California State Parks and step up once again to take care of these parks that are such an integral part of those areas.

Yay! They saved Tomales Bay! Photo © Patrick Ulrich

Sounds like our Facebook fans are also really happy about the news. They are buzzing about it:

“Yay for California State Parks! I grew up going camping at Samuel P. Taylor State Park. I’m so pleased to hear that it will stay open.”

“This is wonderful – AND – I hope will be extended to the other parks deemed for closure as well. This has got to be done!”

Join them in the conversation!

Tomorrow?

After a week like this it seems right to feel optimistic. As they say, things always come in threes, so I think there’s more good news to come. Maybe that’s a little superstitious, but I’m still hoping for a hat trick of good state parks news this week!

And if not tomorrow, we can be sure that soon enough there will be news of nonprofits stepping up to help state parks, thanks to the authority they will now have from AB 42. Onward!

Who do you predict will be the next organization to step up on behalf of a state park they care about?

Citizens, unite for park legislation!

“The health of a democratic society may be measured by the quality of functions performed by private citizens.”
- Alexis de Tocqueville

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
- Margaret Mead

Let’s take a page or two out of the books of Alexis and Margaret and make sure we are getting involved in the legislative process that is happening before our eyes, Californian citizens.

Gov. Brown is starting to review the nearly 600 bills (!) on his desk. Now is the time to let him know you want to see his signature on Assembly Bill 42. Sign this CSPF-sponsored petition to ask for his support. Here’s an excerpt from the petition:

Dear Governor Jerry Brown,
As a strong supporter of California’s state parks, I’m writing to urge you to sign Assembly Bill 42 by Assemblymember Huffman. AB 42 is an important tool that allows the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) to enter into operating agreements with nonprofits to operate state parks. […]

In addition to the online petition, if you are in the Sacramento area, please come sign a petition in real life at CSPF’s (Park)ing Day site! We will have a parking space park on the corner of 16th and J in Sacramento from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. this Friday. Take a couple minutes to sign our oversized park closure petition postcards and enjoy our little PARK(ing) space.

Hope to see you there, citizens.

Assembly Bill 42 Clears Legislature

We’re making progress, park supporters! Earlier today, the State Assembly passed Assembly Bill 42 (Huffman), the bill sponsored by CSPF to help keep California’s state parks open.  Similar to the successful vote last week out of the State Senate, the bill passed off the Assembly Floor this morning on a strong bipartisan vote, and now heads to Gov. Jerry Brown for a signature.

AB 42 provides authority to California State Parks to enter into operating agreements with qualified nonprofit organizations to operate part or all of a state park unit.  The bill ensures transparency in the operations of a state park by a nonprofit by requiring that:

• All revenues generated in the park stay in that park and be directed toward that park’s needs
• The nonprofit submit an annual report detailing its operating activities in the past year and hold a public meeting
• No General Fund subsidy can be given to the nonprofit to operate the state park
• The remainder of any concessions contract’s term be preserved by the nonprofit, and
• Scientific and other specialized functions be conducted only by qualified individuals and subject to state oversight.

Gov. Brown has until October 6 to take action on Assembly Bill 42.  Be sure to send a message to the governor to let him know you want his vote on AB 42! 

A park supporter signs a petition for AB 42

A state park bill’s journey

Last night the California State Senate took up Assembly Bill 42 (D-Huffman). We park supporters were anxious for a passing vote, and we definitely got it with strong bipartisan support by a margin of 32-2.

This bill is important to us because it will allow the state to enter into operating agreements with qualified nonprofits so that nonprofits can help keep some of our state parks open to the public. It will be a big step forward in our fight against park closures. (Here’s some more info from KPCC.)

If you have been following this bill on its journey through the capitol, then you know that after many months we are nearing the finish line. AB 42 will now go back to the Assembly Floor for a final vote there. (Though the bill passed through the Assembly once already, changes were made in the Senate committees, so the Assembly must pass the amended version one final time. Don’t follow? Take a quick detour through a School House Rock lesson.)

If the Assembly passes the final version of AB 42, and we hope they do, then the bill will make its final journey to the governor’s office, where Gov. Brown will have the power to sign it into law … or not. We all need to be on our advocacy A game as soon as that bill hits his desk, letting Gov. Brown know we want his signature on that bill. We will let you know how to sign a petition or send a letter to the governor so he knows we support this legislation. Or, if you want a notice in your inbox, sign up for our advocacy action alerts emails.

What do you think about AB 42?

State parks represented at the capitol in 2010