Evans Renews Call For Better Park Protection, Leadership, New Look At Closures

Contact: Teala Schaff

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Poll Shows Frustration, Ambiguity of Park Managers, Public

SACRAMENTO, CA--In response to a statewide poll by state park rangers calling for the appointment of a new Director of Parks and Recreation, Senator Noreen Evans (D-Santa Rosa) called on Governor Jerry Brown and California State Parks Director Ruth Coleman to take a stronger position advocating for and protecting our parks from closures.  Senator Evans also announced that she will be introducing legislation next year to re-examine the flawed park closure list.

“The men and women who run our state parks have lost confidence in state leadership on parks, and after the debacle of a very flawed parks closure process , I’m afraid I have too,” said Senator Noreen Evans (D-Santa Rosa). “It’s time for consistent leadership to deal with the current crisis affecting our state and for a fresh look at how we can protect our state parks.”

Evans referred to a poll of State Parks Peace Officer Management Association, a 125 member group of park managers. In the poll, 93 percent of the respondents said they believed state parks needed a new director.  In a letter to Gov. Brown, Scott Elliott, the president of the association stated that the poll reflected a belief that Coleman had not responded in a cohesive way to deep budget cuts, her lack of leadership, and that park closures were being done without proper analysis.

In a recent hearing of the Assembly Water Parks and Wildlife Committee, a State Parks spokesman admitted that the closure list was drawn up in an informal process by State Parks senior staff without an economic or environmental analysis, and that no records of the meetings were kept.

“State Parks closures will have severe impacts on local communities, especially the already economically hard hit rural communities that I serve,” said Evans.  “It’s clear that park closures are going to cause major economic disruptions and losses of jobs, and in fact, may cost us more in the future to pay for vandalism, deferred maintenance, environmental destruction, and criminal activity – like drug cartels growing pot on parklands” she said.

“When the legislative sessions resumes, I will introduce a bill to suspend the current closures and develop a legally defensible process to examine potential closures using a defined criteria,” Evans continued.  “Further, the legislation, would ask State Parks to provide the economic impacts on local communities; other possible budget savings measures, and to compare closure savings with future costs to the park system related to the closures.  The bill would also allow current agreements with federal and local agencies and non-profits to move forward with any savings directed back to keeping other parks open.”

“Obviously, re-examining the parks closure list is only part of the solution to keeping our parks open.  I am also committed to developing legislation provide for sustainable revenue steam for our parks," said Evans.

State Senator Noreen Evans represents the Second Senatorial District, including all or portions of the Counties of Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, Napa, Solano, and Sonoma. Senator Evans Chairs the Legislative Women’s Caucus and the Committee on Judiciary.