CSPF announced some exciting news today: we will be awarding 13 grants totaling $328,586 to organizations that are fighting to keep state parks off the closure list. The funding will help many of our nonprofit partners across the state keep 15 parks open for one year. You can read our full press release here.
Although we are happy with the opportunity to help here, we know this is just a short-term solution. It’s really a Band-Aid when what state parks need is surgery. Even so, the state parks community is working in an exemplary fashion to find ways to keep parks open now.
The organizations that will be using these grant funds to help their park of interest are:
Bale Grist Mill © Brent Duffin
Grantee: Anderson Marsh Interpretive Association for Anderson Marsh State Historic Park
Grantee: Stewards of the Coast and Redwoods for Austin Creek State Recreation Area
Grantee: Napa County Regional Parks and Open Space District for Bale Grist Mill State Historic Park and Bothe-Napa Valley State Park
China Camp © Harvey Abernathey
Grantee: Innovations Housing for Castle Crags State Park
Grantee: Marin State Parks Association (for Friends of China Camp) for China Camp State Park
Grantee: Department of Parks and Recreation for Greenwood State Beach and Elk Visitor Center
Grantee: Hendy Woods Community for Hendy Woods State Park
Jack London ©Charles Tu
Grantee: Valley of the Moon Natural History Association for Jack London State Historic Park
Grantee: East Merced Resource Conservation District
for McConnell State Recreation Area and George J. Hatfield State Recreation Area
Grantee: Cuyamaca Rancho State Park Interpretive Association (for Friends of Palomar) for Palomar Mountain State Park
Grantee: Sea and Desert Interpretive Association for Salton Sea State Recreation Area
Salton Sea ©Greg Lucker
Grantee: Sonoma Ecology Center for Sugarloaf Ridge State Park
Grantee: Ide Adobe Interpretive Association for William B. Ide Adobe State Historic Park
In addition to these 13 new grants, CSPF previously awarded two grants to temporarily keep open Santa Susana State Historic Park and Jughandle State Natural Reserve. All of these awards are contingent on the state entering into agreements with these organizations who have developed strong and effective proposals to keep parks open.
California State Parks Foundation blog 
What about the Malakoff Diggins State Park
What are you doing to support Standish-Hickey SRA? Thanks, Bess
I think the Mendocino Area Parks Association (MAPA) is the group that is working on behalf of Standish-Hickey right now.
How many still due for closure? Are there any efforts to keep them open that we can contribute directly to?
Here’s our running list of the parks on the closure list that have official, temporary reprieves: http://www.calparks.org/takeaction/park-closures/. Our organization gratefully accepts donations to help in our work to stop park closures. If you are interested in helping a specific park, there are also many park organizations out there that are also doing great work.