Last push to gather signatures for parks initiative

Alec Peters

Signature gathering to put a State Parks statewide funding initiative on the November ballot has only a month to go, with proponents hoping that if the measure passes, State Parks will have a steady, permanent source of funding.

Ever since California’s fiscal crisis started to make headlines, the state’s 278 parks have been in the budgetary crosshairs, including Jack London State Park, Sugarloaf Ridge State Park, and Annadel State Park.

Specifically, the proposed State Parks and Wildlife Conservation Trust Fund Act of 2010 would impose an $18 vehicle license fee on most California registered vehicles. In exchange, California vehicles subject to the surcharge, as well as those riding in the vehicles, would get free day-use admission to all state parks in California throughout the year.

According to the initiative, the money collected from the surcharge could only go to operating and maintaining state parks, wildlife conservation, and natural lands and ocean programs.

“It’s critical that we get this on the ballot and passed,” said Greg Hayes, a former park ranger and now president of the Glen Ellen-based Valley of the Moon Natural History Association. “Without this measure, our parks will be under continued threat of closure, and will continue to be at the mercy of the state legislature. Something’s got to change.”

Jack London, Sugarloaf, and Annadel have all been subject to cutbacks in days and services, though all three are currently open seven days a week. But it is unclear what the fiscal future holds, as much of what the legislators have done to address the crisis are only temporary budgetary band-aids. According to California’s Legislative Analyst Office, the state faces a $20.7 billion shortfall through 2011.

In order to make the ballot, 477,000 valid signatures are required.

Traci Verardo-Torres, Vice President of Government Affairs for the California State Parks Foundation, an independent nonprofit organization, said the goal is to collect 700,000 signatures in order to “have room to spare” to account for invalid signatures.

Verardo-Torres said that the signature collection effort is over halfway towards the 700,000 goal.

Petitions with the signatures must be filed with the individual county registrar offices by April 16. The California Secretary of State’s office must determine whether an initiative qualifies for the November ballot by June 24.

The measure would require a simple majority to pass.

Some taxpayer groups in California, including the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, have said that they will oppose the measure. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger isn’t too keen on the idea either, offering his own proposals to fund state parks.

Proponents of the proposed measure include the Sierra Club, The Nature Conservancy, and the California Travel Industry Association.

In Sonoma County, the majority of signature gathering is being organized by the Duncan Mills-based Stewards of the Coast and Redwoods. According to coordinator Michelle Luna, over 6,000 signatures have been collected in Sonoma County so far.

Volunteers will be in front of the Safeway at the St. Francis Shopping Center on March 19, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and on March 26, noon to 6 p.m.

If passed, the measure would generate about $500 million a year, based on an estimate of about 28 million vehicles. Eighty-five percent of that would go to the California State Parks Department, and 15 percent to other state wildlife and ocean protection agencies.

According to the campaign in support of the measure, visitors to state parks generate significant economic activity, spending $4.32 billion annually in park-related expenditures. And, according to the campaign, every dollar spent on state parks creates another $2.35 for California’s treasury.

“People need to take the long view in terms of what they get back,” said Greg Hayes of the Valley of the Moon Natural History Association. “In the long run, this will be an investment in our state parks that will turn into a major asset.”