Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Park Protection News: Bills Awaiting Governor's Signature and the State of State Parks
The past few weeks have been interesting for California State Parks. Two very important bills (that Surfrider actively supported during the legislative season) passed out of the Assembly and Senate and are now sitting on the Governor's desk waiting for his signature. He has until Oct 11 to sign. SB 679 (Wolk) protects Parks by setting a requirement that parklands used for "non-park purposes" must be replaced by other park lands that are of equal environmental, recreational, and fair market value.
SB 372 (Kehoe) simply requires the Legislature to make a final decision about allowing any "non-park" use in a state park system (i.e. the Legislature finally has a say in horrible projects like a toll road through a state park). Please take one minute to contact the Governor and ask him to sign the bills.
"We all want to see our state parks open, and it's been the efforts of advocates that have kept the Governor's feet to the fire since late May. But California State Parks Foundation isn't fully celebrating this news yet. While the Governor has found a clever way to get political cover on this issue, it's not clear that this plan won't actually leave Californians with just as limited access to their state parks as if they had been fully closed".
Review their statement and learn more about parks closures.
Check back here on Oct 11 to view an update about the bills sitting on the Governor's desk!