State Parks Dept. to Shutter Most Sonoma County Parks

Some of Sonoma County's most popular and historically significant state parks, including Jack London, Annadel and Sugarloaf are slated for closure this summer due to budget cuts passed by the state Legislature in March, the announced today.

The state is closing 70 of its 278 parks -- including five in Sonoma County and 19 others in the Bay Area -- to reach a legally mandated $33 million in savings over the next two fiscal years.

Despite several close calls, it would be the first time in the parks department's 100-year history, including during the Great Depression, that the parks have been closed because of budget concerns.

Most of Sonoma County's parks are scheduled to close, including its most popular -- Annadel State Park, said Peggy Flynn, community and government affairs manager of the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Outdoor Space District.

Annadel attracts a wide variety of visitors because it offers mountain biking and equestrian trails, as well as a lake and other recreational areas, Flynn said.

"I'm always surprised which parks they choose to close because of the use these parks get," she said.

Historical treasures such as Jack London State Historic Park and the are also losing their state funding.

Jack London park features a museum dedicated to the iconic writer that is curated out of what served as his home from 1905 to 1916. London and his wife are both buried at the park, and visitors can walk to a dam, lake and bathhouse built by the author. Petaluma Adobe, constructed in 1836, was General Mariano Vallejo's ranch, and events reeancting ranch life are still held there throughout the year.

The outdoor space district plans to work with the state to find creative ways to keep the parks open, such as utilizing volunteers or other agencies, Flynn said.

"The state will be looking for local partners," Flynn said. "I think that's what we do well in Sonoma County."

Closing the parks would not only have educational and recreational costs, but would affect maintenance of the facilities, she added.

"It's always a costly proposition for folks on the ground level when there's the threat of state parks closing," Flynn said.

State Assemblyman Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, has vowed to help keep state parks in the North Bay open.

The lawmaker said in a statement today that the park closures were inevitable, but that he would work to allow nonprofits to take over park operations in appropriate situations.

"Until we stabilize the state's budget situation and find a better long-term funding source for parks, I'm afraid that our current functional park closures will continue," he added.

The California State Parks department said that despite the many parks scheduled to shut down unless alternate plans are made, 92 percent of attendance and 94 percent of current revenue levels will be retained.

The California State Parks Foundation blasted the list, though, pointing out that it includes 40 percent of all State Historic Parks.    

"The message to our children and grandchildren is that we can't save their natural and historic legacy," foundation president Elizabeth Goldstein said in a statement. "They can no longer expect to have access to a public trust source that should, by all rights, be theirs."

Article is by Alexis Fitts and Bay City News Service