Service Reductions Begin at State Parks

The due to budget cuts aren’t scheduled to be shut down until summer 2012. But visitors to during the week will be surprised to find closed signs already across all the park gates.

“We are initiating service reductions,” said Danita Rodriguez, the Marin District Superintendent for the Californai State Parks.

Starting Nov. 1, China Camp’s campgrounds and restrooms are closed Sunday through Thursday. Bank Ranch Meadows Campground at China Camp is open Friday and Saturday.

Of the four parks in Marin scheduled to close, . That agreement will keep Samuel P. Taylor open seven days a week in the summer and five days a week in the winter by charging a fee in Muir Woods and will keep Tomales Bay open four days a week as Pt. Reyes National Seashore takes it over.

“It’s not a cure-all. We do still have a gap to fill,” said Rodriguez.

, in Novato, and China Camp remain on the chopping block, but Olompali – which costs far less to operate – hasn’t had service reductions yet.

To keep track of any changes in services or which days the parks are open, you can follow each park individually on facebook (China Camp, Olompali, Tomales Bay, or Samuel P. Taylor) or check the state parks website for updates, said Rodriguez.

Of course, everyone is still hoping to save China Camp and Olompali from closure. And, the hope is to not just save the parks in Marin, said Assemblyman Jared Huffman, but also expand the services.

“Just avoiding closure is not a victory. Our goal needs to be more ambitious than that,” said Huffman.

To that end, Huffman hosted a with the Marin Open Parks Coalition.

“We had a huge turnout,” said Huffman. “It was a testament to our incredible love of our parks in the North Bay.”

The 200 people that showed up were joined by park officials, land managers, representatives from the county, and from Golden Gate National Recreation Area. After presentations from the different officials, people spoke about what they liked in the parks and ideas they had for how to address the budget shortfalls.

Some of the Peacock Gap residents who were involved with the creation of China Camp as a state park in the 1970s have been part of the working group to come up with solutions to help fund the popular park.

“The main reason China Camp State Park has been slated for closure appears to be financial. However, repairing the damage that could result from closure may potentially be far greater than what could ever be saved by trying to close it. Exploring ways to generate more income for China Camp State Park would seem the preferable way to proceed,” wrote Louise Lipsey in a position paper on China Camp for the Sierra Club of Marin.

For locals, the obvious solution to funding China Camp is the elephant in the room: almost no one who uses the park pays the parking or permit fees.

“On paper it looks like a park with low attendance,” said Huffman, because people park on the side of the county road instead of in the paid lots. But, everyone knows the park is packed with hikers, runners, and mountain bikers.

Because the road that runs through China Camp is a county road, there are discussions going on between the parks and the county to reach an agreement on paid parking, said Huffman.

“We are continuing to have conversations,” said Rodriguez, but the Board of Supervisors hasn’t taken a position yet.

They’ll have to soon.

Because the state is going to have to start with lay-offs and service reductions soon, Huffman said, they need to have a plan in place to save the parks before that – by the end of the year.

The town hall was just part of this public process. A focused working group on China Camp is working to get plans in place in the next month for a proposal to keep the park open.

Similar partnerships are being looked at for Olompali, which is “a little tricker,” said Huffman, because of its low attendance. But the historical significance of the site opens it up for other nonprofit partnerships.

And, potentially, “if nothing else pans out,” said Rodriguez, they might go out for a request for proposals for plans to keep the parks open.

To keep Olompali open two days a week would cost just $55,000/year and to keep it open full-time would be $265,000, said Rodriguez. China Camp, because it’s more complex and has more visitors, would cost $595,000/year to keep open full-time.

That’s a lot of people paying the $5 parking fee or making small donations.

To help out, said Rodriguez, people can volunteer or make donations either directly to the Marin District of the California State Parks or to the California State Parks Foundation -- both of which allow people to earmark their donations for a specific park.

Though he didn’t want to say they could save all 70 of the closing parks, “I’m optimistic we’re going to make a big difference,” said Huffman.

What do you think should be done to keep the parks open?