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Don't Close Our State Parks!
We must stop the Governor's plan to close over 200 of our state parks. Just this week, the Governor announced a new proposal to eliminate state funding for our state park system – which will close more than 80% of the 279-unit state park system. His proposal to cut $143 million from our state parks is 10 times worse than last year's proposal. CSPF is kicking off the Save Our State Parks campaign again, and we need your help to take action TODAY and tell the Governor and your state legislators that gutting funding to state parks is unacceptable.
State park advocates need to make their voices heard RIGHT NOW. Your contact to your legislators is critical.
As of June 3rd we have had over 30,000 people send over 87,000 letters to Sacramento!
Please take action below and tell your legislators to reject the proposal and save our state parks.
Your letter will be sent to your legislators and Governor Schwarzenegger
*If State Senator Hollingsworth is your representative, please call his Capitol office at 916-651-4036 or his district office at 951-676-1020 - No fax will be sent.
| Sample Letter for Campaign |
Subject: Please Support State Parks
Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,
As a strong supporter of our state park system, I am writing to express outrage to the Governor's proposal to eliminate core funding for our state park system that will close virtually all parks.
Our state parks exist to provide educational and recreational opportunities, preserve important cultural and historic resources, and aid the state in protecting key natural resources. They also serve a critical function in providing respite for the state's residents in times like these - when economic circumstances keep Californians closer to home, looking for low-cost ways to vacation and spend time with family.
This is exactly the wrong time to be proposing to eliminate the state's core commitment to this world-class resource. Not only would removing the state's General Fund support for state parks likely close the park system, it would cause an additional economic ripple effect to the state's budget and to local economies. The state would lose the ability to generate revenue from popular parks, which drives local economies. As you learned during last year's proposal to close state parks, every $1 that funds the state park system returns $2.35 to the state's General Fund, largely through economic activities in communities surrounding state parks.
I strongly urge you to seek creative solutions that provide adequate revenue to keep our state parks open and accessible to all Californians.
Sincerely,
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Campaign Launched:
May 27, 2009
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Beginning July 1st, the Governor will cut the parks core funding in half and then eliminate all core funding in twelve months. Without this money, there will be no choice but to close the majority of our park system.
Even if you are not planning to visit a park soon, the governor's short-sighted proposal will impact you and every California resident. It is the very definition of "penny-wise, pound foolish". Consider the facts:
FACT: The General Fund budget that state parks receive accounts for less than 1/10 of one percent of the entire state budget.
FACT: Last year alone, there were over 80 million visitors to state parks – and all indications are that this year was going to be even higher.
FACT: For every dollar that funds the parks, $2.35 is returned to the state's General Fund through economic activities in the communities surrounding the parks.
That means eliminating all funding for state parks could actually result in the state losing over $350 million dollars in revenue.
For the financial well-being of our state, we must oppose this reckless plan. I have had the displeasure of notifying you of threats to our parks in the past. But this is the worst threat to park system in its 150 year history.
Closing parks will have a ripple effect that will cause further economic turmoil in towns across the state already reeling from bad economic decisions made in Sacramento. Closing state parks not only loses potential revenue within the park, but will cause losses to the local economies in communities that surround the state parks as well.
To stop this short-sighted plan, we need to show the strength of our 100,000 members, so we need you to take the following two actions - before it is too late.
Last year, when the Governor proposed his first ill-conceived plan to close 48 state parks, it was only because of the public outrage that our parks remained open.
Our members came out in force and descended upon our state capital with over 50,000 petitions of outrage.
This year his plan is even more drastic. So we must once again show the Governor that we will not stand idly by while he makes bad decisions that will impact our families and our state's fiscal stability.
And during these horrible economic times when more and more residents are relying upon our state parks as low-cost alternatives to expensive vacation plans, this is the worst time to enact such a short-sighted plan.
We need you today to sign the enclosed petitions and send them back immediately, along with the most generous emergency contribution today, to save our state parks?before it is too late.
Thank you in advance for once again coming to the rescue of our parks.
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