State parks' care is shared responsibility

California's 278 state parks are part of our collective inheritance. Yet as The Bee's continuing series on state parks illustrated Sunday, it's an inheritance we easily could squander by abusing our parks and failing to ensure they are properly patrolled.

Reported by McClatchy Newspapers' five California papers, Sunday's story notes that crimes on a daily basis in state parks have more than doubled since 1999, to 170 per day last year.

Most of the reported crimes are minor. But problems such as noise, alcohol abuse and vandalism discourage law-abiding Californians from enjoying their state parks. That's why it's essential that lawmakers, parks advocates and user groups take steps to crack down on problems, particularly in the most crime-ridden parks. These tend to be beaches, off-road vehicle areas and state park lakes that allow watercraft.

According to research by McClatchy reporters, Oceano Dunes State Vehicle Recreation Area in San Luis Obispo County had the highest number of reported crimes in 2009 — 5,857 — followed by Lake Perris with 2,942. Folsom Lake State Recreation Area reported 1,545 crimes that year.

In all likelihood, these numbers underreport actual criminal activity in such parks. Rangers don't have the time to do the paperwork or catch trespassers who fail to pay entrance fees. Nearly 30 percent of the state's 339 ranger positions are vacant.

Parks supporters hope these news stories will build public support for a ballot initiative in November to provide the parks with a stable funding base through an annual $18 motor vehicle fee increase.

The Bee has yet to take a position on the initiative, but Californians shouldn't expect that a higher vehicle fee will be a cure-all, or that it should be the only solution on the table.

To finance more law enforcement and protect our natural heritage, the state parks system needs to increase user fees in the most abused and crime-ridden parks.

Currently, the cost of running a vehicle through Oceano Dunes and other vehicle recreation areas is a mere $5 a day. Although off-roaders help pay for these recreation areas through vehicle registrations, a higher fee at the entrance might give users a greater sense of stewardship over these lands. It certainly would help fund adequate enforcement.

On a per-capita basis, these eight off-road recreation areas have a rate of crime and safety incidents seven times higher than the average for other parks.

The same goes for state park boating areas. Launch fees of $5 to $8 clearly are inadequate to finance the kind of enforcement needed to protect lives and state property.

Californians love their state parks, and on Nov. 2, they may choose to invest in them. But fixing our state parks should be a shared responsibility, starting with those who are giving a bad name to public places such as Oceano Dunes, Lake Perris and Huntington State Beach.