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State Parks begin service reductions to meet budget cuts and keep parks open with minimal disruptions California State Parks has begun implementing a series of service reductions at parks across the State. The goal is to keep parks open by achieving budget savings while minimizing disruptions to park visitors as directed by Governor Schwarzenegger on September 25th.
The service reductions have been selected by District Superintendents and their staffs, tailored for each park within their respective districts. The plans include all 279 parks within the statewide system. Some of the most common service reductions include:
- Reduction of days of operation by two or three weekdays at selected parks. Other parks will close a portion of a campground or outlying day-use areas.
- Closure or consolidation of some park offices and/or reduction of their hours of operation.
- Reduction of off-season lifeguard levels at some beaches.
- Removal of some trash cans and fire rings from beaches and closing of roughly half of the restrooms at some beaches.
- Closure or reduced hours of many park visitor centers.
- Reduction of the number of school tours and interpretive programs at many parks.
These service reductions are intended to ensure that California State Parks achieves its required cost savings while maintaining revenues at the highest level possible for the remainder of this fiscal year.
For the Channel Coast District, which includes state parks in western Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties, service reductions will be as follows:
- Reduction in seasonal staffing levels for all service areas including Visitor Services and Maintenance functions at the following park units:
o Refugio State Beach
o El Capitan State Beach
o Gaviota State Park
o La Purisima Mission State Historic Park
o McGrath State Beach
o San Buenaventura State Beach
o Emma Wood State Beach
o Carpinteria State Beach
- Campgrounds at Gaviota State Park north of Santa Barbara and the Ventura River
Group Camp at Emma Wood State Beach west of Ventura will be closed to all camping until at least March 31st, 2010. In addition, McGrath State Beach near Oxnard and the Anacapa Campground at Carpinteria State Beach will be closed to camping weekly from Sunday evening through Friday afternoon. The public is encouraged to check the Reserve America website at www.reserveamerica.com or the California State Parks website at www.parks.ca.gov for any changes to the status of these campgrounds.
- Lifeguard service across the entire Channel Coast District will be affected by the service reductions. Most beaches will see a reduction in the number of hours that lifeguards are on duty. Some beaches that have had lifeguard service in past years will be left unguarded.
These service reductions are consistent with the Governor's announcement that State Parks will remain open for the remainder of the fiscal year, which ends June 30th, 2010 by achieving one-time budget savings through the reduction of maintenance and equipment costs and service reductions.
It is hoped that park visitors will understand and appreciate the severe budget reductions that have occurred and help State Parks minimize the impacts to the system. The public can assist by hauling out their own trash and helping to keep facilities as clean as possible for the next park visitor.
