California State Parks: Salton Sea, Palomar on list of possible shutdowns

By Mary Forgione

May 13, 2011 12 AM PT

Los Angeles Times Daily Travel & Deal blogger

Come fall, Californians could find themselves with fewer parks to visit and fewer services available at parks that are open. That was the tenor of the plan that California State Parks officials outlined Friday as they targeted for shutdown 70 of the state’s 278 parks because of budget problems.

But don’t panic. The closure plan is far from final, and in the meantime, summer camping reservations are being honored, officials said.

Several parks on the hit list are in Southern California, including popular and well-known places such as:

McGrath State Beach near Ventura, which draws campers and bird-watchers;

Fort Tejon State Historic Park in the Grapevine Canyon north of Los Angeles, with restored adobes and exhibits on Army life;

Palomar Mountain State Park in San Diego County, near the world-famous Palomar Observatory, which offers mountainous hiking trails with views of the Pacific;

And the quirky and fascinating Salton Sea State Recreation Area in Riverside County, known for its bird life and infamous for its periodic mass die-offs of fish.

How likely are these cuts to happen? Anthony York writes on the L.A. Times’ PolitiCal blog:

“State lawmakers passed $33 million in parks cuts earlier this year, but [Gov. Jerry] Brown has not signed them into law. Whether the closures will be included in a final state budget this year is unclear, because the spending plan is still being negotiated. Administration officials said they do not intend to alter the parks budget further.”

On Monday, Brown is scheduled to announce his revised budget, along with new state revenue projections.

So stay tuned. If this does come to pass, the closures wouldn’t go into effect until September, said State Parks Director Ruth Coleman.

Coleman also raised the possibility of diminished services -- i.e., closing bathrooms, lifeguard towers and other facilities -- throughout the state park system to cut $11 million in the coming fiscal year and $22 million in the 2012-13 fiscal year. But the budget details haven’t been finalized.

Here’s the list of state parks, released Friday, that could be shut down: