Years of Neglect Take Big Toll on State Parks

If your travel plans include a stop at this stretch of San Diego County coast any time soon, watch your step. Rusty nails protrude from the shoreline stairs, and the rickety handrail has snapped in two.

Visiting the bathrooms can be perilous too. The toilets--installed about 1965--leak, coating the floors with goo.

As for that old state park staple--the evening campfire program--make no promises to the kids. The rangers who would conduct them are spread so thin there’s rarely time for such frills.

California’s state parks used to be something to brag about, a string of natural and historic gems unrivaled in the nation. Today the system is the parkland equivalent of a fixer-upper, a collection whose beauty is falling victim to year upon year of neglect.

Taken alone, each problem plaguing the parks sounds small. A leaky roof? Big deal. An eroding trail? Easy to fix. An exotic plant killing off a native one? No sweat.

But multiply those troubles by 265 state parks and ignore them for a decade, and you’ve got a certifiable crisis. So it is in California, where officials estimate that it will take $1 billion to get the parks back in shape.

“It’s shameful, it’s horrifying, it’s frustrating,” says William Craven, state director of the Sierra Club. “We used to have the premier park system in the country. We can’t say that now.”

The crisis descended slowly, an inevitable byproduct of budget cuts that began in the lean days of the early 1990s and became a habit in Sacramento. Much like libraries, parks came to be seen as a luxury that politicians could guiltlessly plop at the bottom of the funding list.

As Dollars Dwindled, Population Ballooned

During this decade, state parks’ share of the general fund--the government’s main pot of money--shrank by one-fifth, and more than 300 jobs, from rangers to architects to ecologists, were eliminated. Voters, meanwhile, approved no bond money statewide for parks in the 1990s, after endorsing $4.5 billion worth in the two previous decades.

As the dollars dwindled, the state’s population ballooned, intensifying pressure on parks. Each year, about 60 million people hike, fish, picnic, bird watch, camp, kayak, mountain bike or just hang out in state parks. Polls confirm what all those bodies suggest, showing strong support for parks among all ages and in all regions--and even among those who never set foot in them.

Despite such sentiments, California’s parks have suffered from a dearth of political leadership that has left them vulnerable.

“People love parks, but everyone assumes somebody else is looking out for them,” says Robert Wohl, supervising ranger at Torrey Pines State Reserve in San Diego. “Unfortunately, that hasn’t been the case.”

Gov. Gray Davis inherited this mess, and he has raised hopes among park lovers with his newly signed state budget. There is $137 million to get a start on the system’s most desperately needed repairs and $158 million to expand parks and preserve coastal land and wildlife habitat.

Environmentalists are applauding. But even with such augmentations, state parks will receive a minuscule fraction of California’s $81.3-billion budget. Prisons, by contrast, will get 6%.

California’s feeble commitment to parks comes at a time when other states are surging forward with ambitious programs to buy parkland and other open space. Florida spends $300 million a year, a shopping spree launched by a Republican governor and financed by a real estate tax. New Jersey is investing $1 billion to save 1 million acres of open space.

In California, the last new state campground was opened seven years ago. And spending by the Department of Parks and Recreation to acquire new land fell from about $42 million in 1982 to less than $10 million last year--even as real estate prices climbed and sensitive parcels were lost to development.

Despite its woeful treatment in recent years, California’s park system remains unmatched in its size and diversity. Encompassing 1.3 million acres, it includes the North Coast’s towering redwoods, alpine lakes in the Sierra Nevada, the spring wildflowers of Anza-Borrego and some of the West’s most popular surfing spots.

Exotic Species Crowd Out Native Plants

Lesser known are the park system’s historic treasures. Aside from the 2.7 million archeological and cultural artifacts scattered throughout the state, there are 1,455 historic buildings, from the Sepulveda Adobe at Malibu Creek State Park to Sutter’s Fort in Sacramento.

“Parks are the state’s jewels,” says Rusty Areias, Davis’ parks director. “And we have let them deteriorate for far too long.”

Some problems are obvious--picnic tables without benches, crumbling adobes, potholed roads, outdated interpretive displays, washed-out trails. Others are less visible--but no less troubling.

Sewer and water systems in many parks have not been updated since the 1960s, and are on the verge of collapse. At San Elijo State Beach north of San Diego, the system is so old that when a pump or other part fails, its replacement must be custom made--at monstrous expense.

Invasive, exotic species are crowding out native plants at explosive rates. European dune grass has eliminated natural dune environments along the coast from Pismo Beach north, threatening several endangered plants.

Sea fig, a South African export that resembles ice plant, is spreading in dense carpets throughout Southern California parks, killing off native succulents because there’s no money for a counterattack.

Among other problems:

* In Torrey Pines State Reserve, bluff erosion caused by development on the mesas of Del Mar is pouring tons of silt into Los Penasquitos Lagoon, fouling one of the region’s few remaining wetlands.

* At Angel Island State Park in the Bay Area, historic buildings that served as a processing center for soldiers during World Wars I and II have gaping holes in the roofs--and, consequently, walls and floors that have rotted because the rain pours in. Replacing just one roof would consume the park’s entire long-term maintenance budget for a year.

Another of the island’s buildings, which housed Chinese immigrants held under the Chinese Exclusion Act, has walls covered with poems carved by the detainees. But there’s no money to stabilize the aging barracks and properly preserve the rare writings, which deteriorate further each day.

* Budget cuts took a big bite out of the parks department’s ability to police its boundaries. That means property owners adjacent to state lands are using park territory to graze cattle, build roads and fences, even erect satellite dishes--and the state is often unable to detect the intrusions, let alone fight them in court.

* Preserving and educating the public about California’s archeological and cultural resources is part of the park system’s stated mission. Yet thousands of state-owned artifacts lie untended in warehouses, gathering dust because there is no money to catalog and display them.

And rangers today have little time for their traditional interpretive roles--like leading nature walks in the Humboldt redwoods or demonstrating gold panning on the American River. With their ranks thinned by cuts and attrition and their workload heavier due to mushrooming crowds, rangers are largely occupied with busting car vandals, giving directions and making sure the restrooms get cleaned.

Wilson Distracted by Other Priorities

When Gov. Pete Wilson took office in 1990, there was a sense of optimism among environmentalists encouraged by his relatively green political past. Hopes soared higher when Donald Murphy, a park superintendent who rose up the ranger ranks, was named parks chief.

But Wilson became distracted by other priorities, and the department took heavy cuts between 1991 and 1994. Ultimately, Wilson left office without having a park bond passed during his tenure, the first governor to do so since Goodwin Knight in the 1950s.

To cope with the crash diet, Murphy trimmed staff and turned park superintendents into entrepreneurs, ordering them to boost revenue collected at parks. Some became more aggressive about collecting fees; others established new fees for activities that once were free, like one park’s naturalist-led bald eagle viewing. Superintendents who met annual revenue goals were rewarded, while those who fell short had their budgets cut.

This move to make parks more self-sufficient helped the department limp through the budget famine. But critics say it often put superintendents in a moral quandary.

“Do you let the school group come and camp for free or save the space for paying customers?” asks Susan Smartt, president of the California State Parks Foundation, an advocacy group that raises $4 million annually for parks. “There’s an inherent conflict.”

The business-oriented philosophy also fueled pressure to privatize some park operations. The most controversial example is a planned resort at Orange County’s Crystal Cove State Park, between Newport Beach and Laguna Beach. The project, negotiated in secret, will convert rustic beach cottages into lodgings that will go for up to $400 a night. It will also pump thousands of dollars of lease revenue into the cash-starved department.

Critics fault the emphasis on money-making, arguing that parks, like libraries, should not be forced to pay their own way through high fees or leases with commercial enterprises. Whether Davis will reverse the course is unclear. But Areias says parks are “one of those amenities that a civilized society should provide,” and he wants to cut some user fees to broaden access.

The new budget suggests that Davis understands the needs of state parks and, at least in times of plenty, is willing to throw some of the surplus their way. One example: His budget more than doubles what was spent on park and open-space acquisition last year.

Also in the mix are two park bond proposals floating through the Legislature. One, co-sponsored by Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa (D-Los Angeles), proposes $1.5 billion for everything from state parks to local parks, zoos and museums, plus a conservation jobs program for disadvantaged youths. The other, by state Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Los Angeles), totals $2.2 billion and includes money for parks and habitat protection.

The last park bond passed in 1988, and funds from that are gone. But whether Davis will sign a new one, paving the way for its placement on the ballot next year, is unclear. Other legislators are pushing bonds for housing, transportation, crime labs, water facilities and prisons, and the state cannot afford it all.

Even if a park bond passes, experts say, California needs a secure source of long-term funding to protect and expand its parks. Hayden says that there was no point in discussing that problem during the two previous administrations, but that now is the time for such debate. Among potential sources: a real estate transfer tax, vehicle registration fees or a slice of the sales tax.

“Parks are critical to our lives,” says former parks chief Murphy. “Past generations had the foresight to set aside these lands. We need to do the same.”

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Shoring Up State Parks

California’s 265 state parks cover 1.3 million acres, from cool redwood forests to historic Gold Country mines and Southern California beaches, and draw about 60 million visitors a year. Officials estimate it would take $1 billion to catch up on maintenance and put parks back in shape. The state budget includes $137 million to start such work, and voters may have the chance to approve a park bond next year. Here is a sample of some funding needs and estimated costs:

1. Humboldt Redwoods State Park: Replace worn-out restrooms with facilities accessible to disabled. $125,000

2. Angel Island State Park: Repair foundation, seal cracks and paint mess and drill halls that served as processing point for soldiers in World Wars I and II. $510,000

3. Sutter’s Fort State Historic Park: Re-roof building and patch adobe wall. $230,000

4. Empire Mine State Historic Park: Replace water piping and fixtures at Nobs House and adjacent buildings. $55,500

5. Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park: Update and rehabilitate museum commemorating the discovery of gold. $245,900

6. Montana de Oro State Park: Replace bridge and repair 300 feet of trail. $60,000

7. Malibu Creek State Park: Install protective covering to reduce deterioration of Sepulveda Adobe. $28,000

8. Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve: Replace failed water well. $50,000

9. Bolsa Chica and Huntington state beaches: Replace broken fire rings with less hazardous models. $100,000

10. San Clemente State Beach: Replace 40 rotted shade structures in picnic areas and install fence to protect rare plant near trail. $224,000

11. Anza-Borrego Desert State Park: Remove invading tamarisk plant and rehabilitate wetlands in newly acquired 1,700-acre parcel that hosts endangered species. $600,000

12. Border Field State Park: Reseal cracked parking lot and replace interpretive display at picnic area. $58,000

California’s Most Visited State Parks

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Visitors 1997-98 1. Old Town San Diego 3,976,824 2. Huntington Beach 2,560,793 3. Sonoma Coast 2,448,919 4. Bolsa Chica 1,648,372 5. Pismo Beach 1,524,556 6. Mt. Tamalpais 1,261,283 7. Morro Bay 1,154,978 8. Folsom Lake 1,127,350 9. San Onofre 1,068,839 10. Mt. Diablo 1,038,732

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Voter-Approved State Park Bonds

in billions of dollars

1970s: $1.90

1980s: $2.60

1990s: $0.0

Note: The Legislature is considering two park bond proposals, one for $1.5 billion, the other for $2.2 billion.

Sources: Planning and Conservation League, California Department of Parks and Recreation