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State targets Annadel, Jack London and Sugarloaf Ridge for closure

 

Annadel State Park, Jack London State Park, Sugarloaf Ridge State Park and the Petaluma Adobe are among the 70 state parks that are being closed.

Friday, California State Parks announced that because of budget cuts, it would have to close 70 of 278 parks around the state.

In addition to the four Sonoma County parks, other parks in the Silverado Sector facing closure includes the Bale Grist Mill State Historic Park in Calistoga, Bothe-Napa State Park also in Napa County, and the Benicia State Capitol and the Benicia SRA in Solano County.

According to a release from Roy Sterns, a parks spokesman, the closures are necessary to achieve an $11 million reduction in the next fiscal year 2011-12, and $22 million in the 2012-13 fiscal year.

Mary Pass, the Silverado Sector Superintendent for the Sonoma State Historic Parks, said she hasn't heard when the parks will close but she thought it might be sometime this fall.

"We've gone through a number of drills over the past year," she said. "We've been looking at statistics for the past year."

The statistics include revenue and attendance.

So far, the State Parks in Sonoma including the Gen. Vallejo Home, the Mission and the Barracks have apparently been spared.

"Some of the parks are going to be hard to close because they have multiple entrances," Pass said.

"This is a sad day for people in Sonoma County," she added.

Ruth Coleman, director of California State Parks, said, "We regret closing any park, but with the proposed budget reductions over the next two years, we can no longer afford to operate all parks within the system."

"With this announcement, we can begin to seek additional partnership agreements to keep open as many parks as possible," Coleman added. "We already have 32 operating agreements with our partners - cities, counties and nonprofits - to operate state parks, and will be working statewide to expand that successful template."

State Parks had three primary goals for developing the closures:

• Protect the most significant natural and cultural resources.

• Maintain public access and revenue generation to the greatest extent possible

• Protect closed parks so that they remain attractive and usable for potential partners.

"These cuts are unfortunate, but the state's current budget crisis demands that tough decisions be made," said Resources Secretary John Laird. "Hopefully, Republicans in the legislature will agree to allow California voters to decide whether we extend currently existing taxes or make deeper cuts to our parks."

Despite the large number of parks being closed, at least 92 percent of current attendance will be retained, 94 percent of existing revenues will be preserved and 208 parks will remain open.

State Parks believes the methodology developed preserves and protects parks critical to the mission, which provide for the diversity of experiences wanted by visitors across the state. For instance, State Parks has a variety of state historic parks, state beaches, state recreation areas, state nature reserves and state parks and most of the parks in all categories will remain open to serve the diverse preferences of park visitors.

A complete list of the closures, alphabetically, includes:

Anderson Marsh SHP, Annadel SP, Antelope Valley Indian Museum, Austin Creek SRA, Bale Grist Mill SHP, Benbow Lake SRA, Benicia Capitol SHP, Benicia SRA, Bidwell Mansion SHP, Bothe-Napa Valley SP, Brannan Island SRA, California Mining & Mineral Museum, Candlestick Point SRA, Castle Crags SP, Castle Rock SP, China Camp SP, Colusa-Sacramento River SRA, Del Norte Coast Redwoods SP, Fort Humboldt SHP, Fort Tejon SHP, Garrapata SP, George J. Hatfield SRA, Governor's Mansion SHP, Gray Whale Cove SB, Greenwood SB, Grizzly Creek Redwoods SP, Hendy Woods SP, Henry W. Coe SP, Jack London SHP, Jug Handle SNR, Leland Stanford Mansion SHP, Limekiln SP, Los Encinos SHP, Malakoff Diggins SHP and Manchester SP.

Also, McConnell SRA, McGrath SB, Mono Lake Tufa SNR, Morro Strand SB, Moss Landing SB, Olompali SHP, Palomar Mountain SP, Petaluma Adobe SHP, Picacho SRA, Pio Pico SHP, Plumas-Eureka SP, Point Cabrillo Light Station, Portola Redwoods SP, Providence Mountains SRA, Railtown 1897 SHP, Russian Gulch SP, Saddleback Butte SP, Salton Sea SRA, Samuel P. Taylor SP, San Pasqual Battlefield SHP, Santa Cruz Mission SHP, Santa Susana Pass SHP, Shasta SHP, South Yuba River SP, Standish-Hickey SRA, Sugarloaf Ridge SP, Tomales Bay SP, Tule Elk SNR, Turlock Lake SRA, Twin Lakes SB, Weaverville Joss House SHP, Westport-Union Landing SB, William B. Ide Adobe SHP, Woodson Bridge SRA and Zmudowski SB.