Only a few miles above the impressive, looming redwoods of Armstrong Natural Reserve lies Austin Creek State Recreation Area, 5000 diverse acres that stretch over rolling coastal hills and thick oak forests.
In this wilderness accessible only from a road through Armstrong Woods itself, are some of the last untouched natural ecosystems of the Russian River watershed.
Bears and mountain lions are common here, and until last September, humans were frequent visitors as well. With 20 miles of trail and three campgrounds, this park served as a location for environmental studies and youth education and a place of reflection and recreation for Sonoma County residents and tourists from across California.
Due to its remote location, Austin Creek has never had as many visitors as other parks in the area and is now one of 70 state parks in California eliminated from the Department of Parks and Recreation budget for 2012-2013.
All closures will happen by July 1 of this year, and some, like Austin Creek, already have. The closures reflect a $22 million budget cut to the department, which is about nine ten-thousandths of a percent (.0009 percent) of the estimated 25.4 billion state deficit.
This seems like a miniscule amount of money in context, but the real weight of debt that state parks bring to the federal budget is concealed within thousands of backlogged maintenance necessities that are estimated at more than a billion dollars in total. About a quarter of California’s parks are being closed, many targeted specifically for their large maintenance needs.
Despite the mass shut downs, department officials have said they expect a minimal loss of revenue and visitation, projecting both to retain 90-95 percent of current totals. Two-hundred and nine parks will remain open. In addition to the closures, ranger presence in parks that will remain open has been cut by 20 percent.
To compensate for such a large reduction in state resources, Jerry Brown and other administrators have encouraged public and private sectors to cooperate in park maintenance and operations, a request that proved useful in many areas of California.
Stewards of the Coast and Redwoods is a Sonoma County organization that has answered this call, and given Armstrong Woods invaluable help in its own recent closure threats. Since 1985 the group has been working to increase park attendance and awareness and each year puts around 50 volunteer guides and staff in the field to supplement the waning number of state park employees.
SCR has been instrumental in helping to keep Austin Creek, Armstrong Woods and the Sonoma Coast parks alive and fully functional until very recently, something that the park staffs are quick to note.
Louis, a source who asked that his real name be omitted from this article, is employed by the Department of Parks and Recreation as a kiosk and services attendant, not a ranger, but on some days he is the only representative for the state at Armstrong Redwoods. He lamented the closure of Austin Creek and gave high praise to the many community members and organizations that helped stave off both Austin Creek and Armstrong’s closures.
“I’m from about two miles from here and having the reverence of the forest growing up, and being able to come out here, its really important to a lot of people. When they had the soft closure [in 2008] it looked bad, but the people of Guerneville kind of knocked the door down and stopped it.”
Louis noted that SCR played a large part in this battle, but many parks have no organization like SCR to turn to, and their closures will have profound effects on the availability of the outdoors to many communities across California.
However the widespread outcry that this issue has solicited has not gone completely overlooked by the state. State assembly members Wesley Chesbro, Roger Dickinson, Mike Gatto, Jared Huffman and Kevin Jeffries have introduced legislation called the “California State Park Stewardship Act of 2012” that addresses many problems with the closures. Among the issues cited in the bill are the loss of tourist economies that may present a real problem for towns dependent on state park tourism as well as a loss of park revenue. Huffman and other assembly members mark this episode of state-negligence as a foolish wrong-step for a miniscule piece of the budget.
This legislation affirms that a minimizing state park closure is in the interest of Californians, and that the Department of Parks and Recreation should streamline their administrative system rather than closing entire areas. Suggestions include new ways to maximize fee collection and user registration, as well as the proposal of a new system of incentives for purchasing park passes.
Unfortunately, the bill falls short of any definitive goals for limiting the number of park closures in the future and does not give a firm stance on the current closure’s timeline.
But the state assembly is not the only legislative body that has taken up issues with the park closures. On May 8 senators Noreen Evans and Joe Simitian announced a budget proposal to keep open up to 50 of the parks slanted for closure.
“[The closures are] penny wise and pound foolish” said Simitian. “If we work together creatively to keep these parks open, we can prevent the kind of problems that will end up costing California far more in the long run.”
Some of the most famous California parks scheduled to be closed are the Salton Sea State Recreation Area, Santa Cruz Mission Historic Monument, Fort Humboldt State Historic Park and Pio Pico State Historic Park. Many of these sites are rich historic areas for California’s long development.
Other parks in the immediate Sonoma County area set to close are Annadel, Sugarloaf, Petaluma Adobe, and Jack London Historic Parks, although Annadel has been granted a temporary reprieve from closure due to federal funding.
John David Fulton, avid outdoorsman and frequent visitor of both Armstrong Redwoods and Austin Creek state parks, said his greatest apprehension about the state park closure was “the fear of the state parks importance being forgotten about, and the government selling off the land to pay off the debt even further.”
Fulton cut a striking figure standing on one of Austin Creek’s several ancient hillside groves of apple trees, a testament to the region’s pre-park settlement.
“The most obvious pro of the closure of the state parks is the money that we will be saving and putting forth towards our debts,” Fulton said. “But being an avid hiker, to be honest though, I am saddened by the idea of tourists and other explorers of our local beauty who no longer have a chance.”
Fulton admitted that he preferred fewer tourists in the parks and said that the closures were not necessarily going to stop him from visiting them.
Whether or not the park closures constitute a blessing or a curse is a question that will be determined by one key issue—one which will determine the fate of a great portion of Californian ecology and reveal the values of the state government: what will be the long term fate of the parks when they close?
The state’s decision to either keep these lands secure or sell them off over the next few years will decide the fate of many of California’s last natural ecosystems, and make or break the rich legacy of a state famous for it’s beautiful and diverse climates.
Austin Creek land being sold off to housing developers or for resource extraction is unbearable.
But that is exactly what Louis speculates will happen. “The soft closure is kind of an indication, and now that Austin Creek is closed, I think the state will look to sell it in one or two years,” he said.
The legislation to save some of these parks is an encouraging step towards sustaining the valuable wilderness that we have in California, but such budget crises are not likely to stop with the fiscal year of 2012-2013. To preserve the lands for the future, Californians must establish a strong voice and coordinate organizations like SCR to make the importance of conservation an issue that state government cannot ignore.
The battle to keep these lands for the public’s education and recreation is a crucial issue that is only going to be more and more relevant as the United States’ natural places further dwindle, and it is our responsibility as citizens of this state to protect the legacy that we enjoy.