State parks won't be closed

Governor's plan calls for less maintenance

By Judy Lin
ASSOCIATED PRESS
September 26, 2009

REPRIEVE FOR LOCAL PARKS

San Diego County state parks on the original closure list included:
•Anza-Borrego
 Border Field
•Carlsbad beach
•Cuyamaca Rancho
•Palomar Mountain
•San Pasqual Battlefield
•Silver Strand
•Torrey Pines

SACRAMENTO — The Schwarzenegger administration yesterday backed off its threat to close dozens of California state parks by saying it has found other ways to save money amid the state's deep fiscal crisis.

The plan announced by the governor's office calls for saving $12.1 million by reducing maintenance and halting purchases of vehicles and other equipment.

An additional $2.1 million will be saved by cutting an undetermined number of positions and reducing hours and days of operation at many parks. Some parks will open only on weekends, though officials said they have not determined which ones.

Those decisions will be made in the coming weeks by the superintendents of the state's various park districts, said Parks Department spokesman Roy Stearns.

With budget negotiations stalemated in May over how to close a $24 billion-plus deficit, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed closing 220 of the state's 279 parks. Some of San Diego County's most popular parks were on the list.

Amid howls of protests from park lovers, critics noted the state had threatened to close parks during previous budget battles but had never followed through. In the months since, periodic word came out of the Capitol that the park closures would not be so dramatic.

Though few will rue the preservation of the park system, the reversal does underscore how even in the worst fiscal conditions, the threat of vast cuts is sometimes false, fueling skepticism among lawmakers and voters about ominous budget pronouncements and the ballot measures that often ensue to address them.

“The budget process is so complicated and confusing to people to begin with, and there is so much distrust in government, that when people hear about changes in spending cuts, they are left questioning whether or not real revenues are really needed,â€