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Columnists - Columnists: Jeff Jardine

Sunday, Jun. 07, 2009

Jardine: Few are fans of state's park plan

State must consider raising use fees and recruiting volunteers

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With some time off to go camping, Modesto's Mike Wedel went online and discovered he needed to drive only about 15 minutes to bivouac retro style.

He loaded his father's old room-sized canvas Coleman tent, a well-stocked metal (yes, metal) ice chest and other antiquated gear into his 1957 Ford Country Sedan station wagon. Wedel and girlfriend Cindy Youngquist then headed for Caswell Memorial State Park north of Ripon. They found a site for $20 per night and set up camp.

"It's so close (to Modesto), but it doesn't feel like it," Wedel said, standing in the shade of some majestic oak trees about 100 yards from the Stanislaus River.

The beauty of California's state parks is that they're all so different in historical significance, landscape and purpose. With 279 of them throughout the state, you never have to go far to find one and, unlike Disneyland or other private theme parks, they are affordable.

Except that the state claims it can no longer afford to operate them and plans to close 220 parks and recreation areas, probably after Labor Day.

When you are totally dollar-dumb and fiscally incompetent -- a projected $24.3 billion shy of balancing the budget and the worst credit rating of any state in the union certainly qualifies -- you look for quick fixes regardless of the long-term ramifications.

The governor and legislators are in panic mode after settling upon a budget deal months ago that hinged upon the willingness of Californians to tax themselves to pay for the state's free-spending cluelessness. Of course, voters last month rejected the five ballot measures that would have constituted a bailout. A swift kick to the groin, as messages go.

Now, the governor claims, anything goes. That could include the vast majority of the state parks, specifically those that operate at a loss or don't have unique funding sources.

If Gov. Schwarzenegger is serious, recreation gems like Caswell, Calaveras Big Trees, McConnell State Recreation Area along the Merced River and scores of others will be closed.

So will numerous state historic parks, including Columbia, Jamestown's Railtown 1897 and San Juan Bautista, longtime educational gold mines for schoolchildren, along with the Eastern Sierra ghost town of Bodie.

Of course, the state can't close entire towns like Columbia, Jamestown and San Juan Bautista. It can, however, shutter the museums and other state-owned attractions that bring in tourism dollars.

Certainly, the afterglow of unseating recalled Gray Davis six years ago has faded for Schwarzenegger, as movie tough-guy-turned- politician. Davis dealt with an $8 billion deficit. Under Schwarzenegger, it's ballooned by more than three times. With schools, public safety and social services funding in peril, Schwarzenegger is dealing with a financial situation far worse than than anything Davis faced. I wonder if he truly anticipated the severity of the backlash from parks supporters when the hit list came out last week.

Ultimately, the folks elected to run this state are entrusted with protecting its assets, including preserving its history -- not selling them off like foreclosure properties.

Close or sell Sutter's Fort?

Let Bodie, its fragile wooden buildings propped up for generations since it became a state park in 1962, fall?

There's got to be a smarter, better way.

Privatizing these parks could open many historic sites to commercial or residential development. A decade or so ago, activists had to sue to stop a Canadian company from strip-mining the area around Bodie, the blasting of which would have collapsed the town.