Dan's Outside

I go, I see, I do, I walk, I think, I like…

Support California State Parks

The Governator of California, among a number of other bizarre recent “decisions” has recommend closing almost all California State Parks. This is just plain nuts for a whole bunch of reasons. (How do you close a public park? how do you protect the parks from vandals and marijuana growers and off-road vehicles? What happens to valuable and sensitive sites like Bodie? Why close the parks that produce more income and taxes than they cost to run?)

Of course, given that he is also in the process of laying off tens of thousands of tax paying public employees, reducing support for education in the state the already ranks 47th in the nation for per-student k12 education funding, swiping money from local governments… and much more… it is hard for some to get worked up over parks.

But please do get worked up. And then share your opinion. One first step is go go here.

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June 4, 2009 - Posted by | Commentary | , , , , , ,

2 Comments

  1. Didn’t we just fight this battle? I swear Arnold has it in for the parks and I don’t know why. Being the lefty liberal that I am, I say roll back Prop 13 and redo it. No I don’t want my property taxes to go through the roof but there is so much unfairness in the current system it isn’t funny. Can you imagine the tiny tax rate corporations that have been on their property since before Prop 13 are paying? I bet I pay more on my little mini-house. I’d like to see the state and the country have a real progressive tax structure like we did under Eisenhower. Instead it looks like that creep Grover Norquist has won and just about he’s turned this state and the nation as a whole into a third world country. I say soak the rich and let them pay their fair share too.

    Oh well, I really shouldn’t get started on it but here but here is what I get out of the parks. 1. Exercise, and I think that probably enhances my physical and mental health so that I don’t need to use are insane health care system as much. 2. Photography. Not that I am any good at it but it is fun for me nonetheless to take a camera in and try. 3. Relaxation and fun. I find it fun to go into the parks and hike the trails and maybe even camp out or backpack.

    And so when you look at the economic activity the parks have generated from me, OK, mostly REI and a little gasoline, after doing a quick report in Quicken to see what I have spent just at REI in support of my hiking since I first started in 2004, its over $7600! How’s that for a little economic activity driven by the parks!

    Comment by cynthialeeder | June 6, 2009

  2. We certainly did just battle this one. I still can’t believe that no one in Sacramento has the courage to yell, “the emperor has no clothes.” Everyone there – on both sides of the aisle, actually – can list off the three or four major gridlock issues that have created this mess and made it so nearly impossible to resolve it in a rational way.

    Dan

    Comment by Dan Mitchell | June 9, 2009


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