Hey, that's my park!

[Biciclista]

yes. How about an 85 year old woman who was turned down for parole because she didn't have enough job prospects? Being related to people who have screwed up and become incarcerated in California prisons gives me an inside look on what goes on there. there are prisoner's advocacy groups, and I have been acquainted with the obstacles they face in California.

[ttaylor508]

What does closed mean?

Does it mean stopping any development projects, laying off the staff, locking the restrooms, and shutting off the drinking fountains?

Or does it mean blocking any entrance roads with concrete K-rails?

Or does it mean hiring extra sheriff's deputies to patrol the parks and arrest anyone setting foot on state park land?

Or does it mean selling off all the land to Walmart, Pacific Lumber, and KBHomes?

Washington State has proposed "mothballing" 33 of our State parks, but it is my understanding that these parks would still be accessible by foot, meaning that the parking lots would be locked and so would the public restrooms, but the parks could still be used by the public. Not sure if this is the case with the California parks as well. I don't know how they would enforce keeping people out since all the staff that work the parks would be either reassigned or let go.

[Veronica]

So you are saying she had not served her full time yet. Isn't parole an early release?

What happens to people who have already committed a crime if the have no job? What is the recidivism rate for jobless former criminals?

Veronica

[Biciclista]

you're right. parole means early release. but when you're 85 and a first time offender and you get turned down twice for parole, you die.

[Veronica]

Mimi I agree that what happened with your family is tragic. But as times get tight I would rather see our police, firefighters, child healthcare, etc. get funded than my state parks.

Tough choices are going to be made about government services in the future. If we don't like the choices, maybe we need to up our taxes. You cannot always have all the desserts on the tray.

Veronica

[Biciclista]

Well, of course. but in your state a lot of important stuff, like Child healthcare is also going to get cut.

And hopefully most states do not have such a powerful referendum system that enables a majority to be wooed by special interest groups (like the Mormon church) to nullify something they just voted in a couple of years before.
The majority of voters in CA clearly do not vote rationally, at least that's what it looks to outsiders like me (for example the governor debacle)

[jobob]

Um, thanks.

- Jo, California resident.

[Biciclista]

PS even if I was so inclined, and I'm not a crook, there's no way I would ever run for public office. I've seen how quickly the honeymoons turn into a lynching. Jobob, this is not an affront to California voters, it's the process that the state is using. I know that here in Washington we'd have the exact same problem... and are tending to...

[shootingstar]

Wow, closing most state parks in CA? How long would the closures be? A year?

during a time of economic recession when people tend to vacation closer to home, I dunno that's just not great.

I know we have 1-2 firefighters here on TE so hopefully they won't take great umbrage to my next comment:

You know among fire department management, particularily in big cities, for the fullt-time paid firefighters (not volunteer firefighters), there is discussion how a firefighter's time is used when they aren't responding to a fire alarm.

And they aren't all doing inhouse training, physical fitness, work related reading either. And not all of them are out there doing fire prevention education to kids, teens, etc. during non-emergency response times either.

Presumably funds would be more for brush/forest fire control/suppression work that is necessary when incidents happen in California.

[Grog]

Here in British "California" government campsites (in provincial parks) are expected to do very well this year because of the number of people who will be taking their vacation time locally instead of going away.

I am quite concerned by what's going on south of the border in general. And I'm very happy to be paying the level of taxes that I do. In fact, now living in one of the provinces with the lowest taxation rate in the country (while I used to live in a province with one of the highest tax rate), I see how I'm also getting much less services and value from the provincial government, and have to pay more at the end of the day. I will admit that I'd rather take a tax hike......

(For those who don't know, British California is actually British Columbia, Canada!)

[crazycanuck]

Someone please explain to me how they close access to a park? Are you referring to a nature reserve or soemthing like that? I'm trying to think of similar places in Western Australia and am coming up with blanks..

I have no clue how it works in California but how do they close a beach? All the beaches in WA aren't locked at night. The toilets are though!

I'm confused...

[Tuckervill]

We have state parks here that are entirely fenced. You have to walk through the woods to see the fence, but they're fenced. It would just be easier to climb over the gate across the access road.

I imagine--I can only imagine because I've never been to Australia--that we're not talking about parks that take up an entire ecosystem, like some of the national parks you must have in Australia. (We have Yellowstone and Yosemite which aren't fenced.)

Back to climbing over the gate. Many of our state parks (Arkansas) are pretty big and remote, and if you drove your car to the gate, you'd still have a pretty good hike to get down to the river or lake or whatever the park is centered near. I have to say that Arkansas does a pretty good job with state parks. None of them charge admission, but some of them have been mothballed during times of economic downturn, to be reopened later.

Karen

[Trek420]

You know among fire department management, particularily in big cities, for the fullt-time paid firefighters (not volunteer firefighters), there is discussion how a firefighter's time is used when they aren't responding to a fire alarm.

And they aren't all doing inhouse training, physical fitness, work related reading either. And not all of them are out there doing fire prevention education to kids, teens, etc. during non-emergency response times either.

Personally I have no problem with what firefighters do on their downtime: train, play checkers, collect toys for tots, cook chili .... I just want them HERE when there's a fire.

And in many urban areas firefighters are the available healthcare.

Meanwhile since the saying here is California, earthquakes, floods, fires ... here's information about volunteering:

http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=886

[sgtiger]

That's really sad. Having spent my childhood years in the San Jose/ Santa Clara area, we used go to the beautiful parks and beaches there often. I have very fond memories of the area and I think it's terrible that others may not be able to enjoy them. But I have no answers either.

As for finding volunteers, it may be possible. The Oregon States Parks Dept. has a program that lets people camp out in a park for the season. The volunteers are responsible for basic things like cleaning toilets, picking-up rubbish, reminding park users about the park regulations, etc. They can call in the park rangers or police if there are more serious issues. It's popular with retirees and people who for whatever reason do not work that time of year.

CC - They post signs and ticket violators, but it's impossible to keep people away entirely.

[shootingstar]

Don't know if there is a volunteer program for our provincial parks.. we do have many parks some of which are amazingly beautiful. Not all have same facilties.

I worked not far from a provincial park..near the base of a mountain nearby. Maybe one day we'll get there..amongst so many other natural places to see within a 100 kms. radius from home. Going to a local 'park' in Greater Vancouver area is not necessarily same experience as going to a local park in any southern Ontario city. Here, in some 'local' parks you need real hiking boots.

http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/exp...s/golden_ears/

http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/fee...ml#campsitefee

Then some municipal parks can be natural gems in our area. One of our famed parks, Stanley Park in downtown Vancouver, was partially shut down for several months due to danger of fallen old growth trees plus retaining wall damage by the ocean due to a windstorm. It caused a real awareness in terms of "open access" to enjoy the park when (municipal) govn't had to shut off road, walking and cycling access. Made national news. Made us locals realize not to take what we have at home for granted.