Politics & Government

National Park Service to Keep Tomales Bay, Samuel P Taylor Open

Agreement signed today will keep state parks in national park lands open in Marin County.

The National Park Service is coming to the rescue.

An agreement signed today, Oct. 6, will save Samuel P. Taylor and Tomales Bay state parks from closure through a partnership with National Park Service.

"We share boundaries; we share resource issues. We have a long history of working together," said Howard Levitt, Director of Communications for the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

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The agreement between the California State Parks and the National Park Service will keep open that are inside national parks in Marin County. The agreement in Marin County is a pilot program that both sides hope is successful.

“This agreement reflects a shared commitment to the long term protection of
the Marin County parklands that are collectively visited by hundreds of
thousands of people each year,” said California State Parks Marin District
Superintendent Danita Rodriguez in a statement.

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In Tomales Bay, where lands in the state park fall within both the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and the Pt. Reyes National Seashore, the Pt. Reyes National Seashore will assume responsibility for running the park. They will collect the day use fees and provide maintenance and visitor and resource protection. There will be some service cuts, said Rodriguez, and they expect to keep Tomales Bay open four days a week. Those days will be published once they've been worked out.

"There's a lot of details we haven't worked out yet," said Rodriguez.

The agreement to keep Samuel P. Taylor open is a collaboration between Mt. Tam State Park, Samuel P. Taylor, and the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The National Park Service and GGNRA will collect a $2 fee at Muir Woods National Monument beginning on Jan. 1 that will go into a Redwood Creek Watershed Collaboration Fund.

This fund will support operations at Mt. Tam State Park and allow for the state parks to then keep Samuel P. Taylor open at reduced levels. Samuel P. Taylor is expected to be open seven days a week during the summer and five during the off-season.

"The good news is they'll stay open," said Rodriguez.

The $2 fee will cover about half the cost of keeping Samuel P. Taylor open, said Rodriguez, with day-use fees and revenue covering the other half.

"It's a pretty unique and creative partnership," said Levitt.

Each year, the state and national parks will choose additional projects to be supported by the Redwood Creek Watershed Collaboration Fund. The Redwood Creek begins in Mt. Tamalpais State Park, goes through Muir Woods National Monument, and reaches the Pacific Ocean at Muir Beach in GGNRA.

“Muir Woods, Golden Gate, and Mt Tamalpais State Park are inextricably
linked in the complex watershed of Redwood Creek,” said Frank Dean, General Superintendent of Golden Gate National Recreation Area, which includes Muir Woods, in a statement.

The agreement in Marin County is part of a pilot program to keep open some of the 70 state parks labeled for closure. A similar agreement with Redwood National Park will keep open Del Norte State Park near Crescent City.

The initial agreement will operate through July 2013 - following the official closure of the state parks on July 1, 2012. But, the hope is to extend that initial agreement after its first year.

The agreement only applies to Samuel P. Taylor and Tomales Bay. Olompali and China Camp, which are not in National Park Service lands, are still scheduled to be closed.


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