>Help Stop the Closure of California State Parks

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Here’s our San Diego letter below. Please help by forwarding this letter to your contact lists. Thanks!

Many of you are concerned with the state proposal to reduce the budget of California State Parks by $143 million. And, many of you will be directly impacted since Border Field State Park, the Tijuana Estuary, Silver Strand, Torrey Pines, and Carlsbad State Beach are slated for closure.

You can help by sending letters to your legislators no later than Monday of next week. THE MORE LETTERS THE BETTER. PLEASE FORWARD THIS EMAIL TO YOUR CONTACTS.

Attached is a letter which highlights the main reasons Border Field State Park and the Tijuana River Natural Estuarine Research Reserve should not close.

Since Sacramento will be making decisions on Monday, we need you to FAX letters to the legislators NO LATER THAN MONDAY!!

Emails will not work for some legislators. They don’t want their staff spending time making copies of emails

IF YOU DON’T HAVE ACCESS TO A FAX MACHINE, YOU CAN SEND A FAX FROM YOUR COMPUTER. HERE’S HOW YOU DO IT:

1. Highlight and copy the proposed letter narrative (with any additions or changes YOU want to do)

2. go to http://ga3.org/campaign/budget_may09 which is the State Parks Foundation Website.

3. Highlight and paste the letter narrative over the existing letter on the site.

4. fill in the individual info on the right.

5. click on “Send this message”

A fax will then be automatically sent.

SEND A COPY OF YOUR SIGNED LETTER TO:

FAX (No cover sheets necessary)

619-409-7688 Senator Denise Ducheny
619-462-0078 Assemblyman Marty Block
916-323-2232 Natural Resource Committee (Senate)
916-323-8386 Budget Committee (Senate)
916-319-2107 Budget Committee (Assembly)
916-319-2196 Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee (Assembly)

EMAIL

senator.kehoe@sen.ca.gov Senator Christine Kehoe
rachel.gregg@asm.ca.gov Assemblywoman Mary Salas

If you don’t have time to send a letter to all of the above, please at least send one to your Senator and Assemblymember.

Thank you!

HERE’s a TEMPLATE LETTER

RE: OPPOSE CLOSURE OF BORDER FIELD STATE PARK/TIJUANA ESTUARY – IMPERIAL BEACH

We are writing in support of Border Field State Park/Tijuana Estuary, which is also a National Wildlife Refuge, a National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR), and a Wetland of International Importance under the RAMSAR Convention.

Border Field State Park, a part of the Tijuana River NERR, should not be closed because:

1. State funding for Border Field State Park is $319,000, which is approximately 26% of the operational costs to run the park. These funds serve as a match to leverage non-state funding of approximately $906,000. Without a State match, these funds will be in jeopardy. Over the past 50 years the public has invested over $500 million in the Tijuana River Valley, and it is imperative that this investment be protected.

2. Tourism is the third largest industry in San Diego County. Without our State Parks we will lose jobs in hotels, restaurants, retail shops, and the recreational industry. In general its been found that State Parks return $2.35 for every dollar received from the state General Fund. Ultimately, closing state parks to save money may cost the state many, many times more in state tax revenue.

3. Over 1.8 million people live within a 30-minute drive from Border Field State Park. Over 70% of this population is non-white and low-income. Border Field State Park serves many of San Diego’s disadvantaged population by providing outdoor educational opportunities in partnership with local school districts.

4. Because of severe economic impacts nationwide, studies have shown that more and more people are vacationing locally. Without Border Field State Park there will not be recreational opportunities for local citizens.

We encourage you to oppose the closing of Border Field State Park, as well as the rest of the Parks in the State. Furthermore, we are in support of your efforts to find new revenue sources, including a dedicated DMV fee to support State Parks. This fee is especially attractive because it will provide free state park access to all Californians.