State parks face serious chance of being terminated

I’m not 10 minutes into an afternoon stroll through Topanga State Park when I spot two deer browsing in a meadow.

They turn my way and freeze for several seconds, as if to gauge the threat, then resume foraging as though I’m invisible.

Moments later, on a shaded portion of trail, a gray squirrel perched on a ledge chirps raucously and causes me to jump.

I’ve invaded its privacy. It lifts and shakes its bushy tail, like a fly-swatter, threatening to wallop me with it.

So I venture forth, into the sunlight, where I encounter a park resident smiling through her many freckles.

Lori Callahan, whose home borders the park and who considers it her backyard, explains that anyone who appreciates the park’s green splendor is worth meeting.

“I encounter people from all over the world,” she says. “Last week I met people from Australia, and the week before Austria. I’ve met people from France and, recently, New England.”

I’m hesitant to spoil her mood, but ask anyway:

“So how do you feel about Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposal to close this great park, and 47 others?”

She pounces on the question as a cougar would a rabbit.

“I’m a native Californian and a taxpayer,” she says. “My husband works for a corporation that’s California-based. I am personally a California corporation.

“And this is the first time in my life that I have considered moving out of state -- all because of this. I am so upset. It seems that all the benefits of living in this state have gone down the tubes.”

I half-expect the Terminator himself to burst from the bushes and blow us to smithereens.

The action-hero-turned-governor is no “good guy” when it comes to state parks.

He tried but failed recently in a bullying effort to gain approval for a toll road to be built through San Onofre State Beach.

Then he terminated Clint Eastwood and Bobby Shriver, his own brother-in-law, as members of the parks commission, because of their opposition to that project.

Now focus is back on his 2008-09 budget proposal, which he revealed in January and has not backed down from. It would close 48 of 278 state parks and reduce lifeguard staffing at 16 state beaches.

On Monday, the California State Parks Foundation is staging a rally in Sacramento to express its opposition to the proposal, which the commission president calls “wrong-headed.”

Elizabeth Goldstein urges anyone with an opinion to visit Savestateparks.org to learn more and contact legislators.

For those who have not followed this issue, some perspective:

The state is facing a $14.5-billion deficit and something has to give.

But booting the public from 48 parks -- also on the hit list locally is nearby Will Rogers State Historical Park -- would represent a drastic measure worth very little in return.

It would save the state only $13.3 million. Additionally, the parks system would lose $3.7 million in fees generated by visits, so the overall savings is only $9.6 million.

“It’s a crazy plan. It doesn’t save a lot of money and it does tremendous damage to the state parks system,” Goldstein says.

Let’s assume the governor is sincere when he says these parks, which are enjoyed by more than 6 million visitors annually, would reopen “when the budget improves.”

Who sees the budget improving any time soon, and to what degree must it improve before the parks are reopened?

Also, as Goldstein points out, once you close a park, the wilderness consumes its trails. Untended structures deteriorate. The longer they remain closed the more costly they’d be to reopen.

State Parks Director Ruth Coleman has said closed parks would be maintained and patrolled. But currently it’s the regular traffic of hikers and bikers, not staff maintenance, that prevents trails from being grown over.

Topanga State Park, which receives 460,000 visits a year, entails 9,000 acres and has 36 miles of trails. If people are locked out, only fire roads would remain. And if a closure cannot be adequately enforced, what’s to prevent squatters from moving in?

“How will they enforce fire safety? All you need is one person and one fire and we could lose our homes,” Callahan says. “I built here 20 years ago with the expectation that this would remain a park.”

On the Eagle Springs Fire Road I encounter a 76-year-old Topanga resident who says the governor is bluffing. “But even if he isn’t, I’ll hike here anyway,” says the man, who asks to remain anonymous. “They can’t keep me out.”

I meet Sheryl Hamlan and her children, Alice, 11, and Ethan, 9. Hamlan says she understands the governor’s problem, but adds, “It’d be devastating to lose this, because it’s so beautiful here.”

Soon, Hamlan spots the deer and her eyes light up.

Finally, I reach Eagle Rock, a vista from which one can see the San Fernando Valley and miles of blue ocean.

Richard Bailey, who jogs to this promontory twice a week after work, says he’s sympathetic to the budget crisis but adds that people need sanctuaries such as this.

“I run to this spot to watch the sunset,” he says. “It’s sort of like a reset button for my soul.”

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pete.thomas@latimes.com