Measure by Jared Huffman would allow non-profits to run parks<\/i><\/p>\n
by Brian Leubitz<\/p>\n
I’ve brought up the subject of “privatization” of state parks in the past, and mentioned that I’m quite fond of the Willow Creek extension to the Sonoma Coast state park<\/a> that is managed by a non-profit, LandPaths.<\/p>\n However, a new law passed by Asm. Jared Huffman would allow state parks to be run by a nonprofit organization. To put it lightly, there are progressives on both sides of this issue. But the CA State Parks Foundation has been pushing for this legislation.<\/p>\n “Nonprofit organizations have been supporting the state park system throughout its more than 100 year history, and AB 42 provides another venue for that critical support,” said Traci Verardo-Torres, Vice President of Government Affairs for the California State Parks Foundation, the organizational sponsor of the bill. “Across the state, park advocates and concerned Californians are coming together to identify creative, collaborative solutions to keep our parks protected and open for public access. Allowing nonprofits to help keep state parks open will help parks that would otherwise close, and will engage Californians in safeguarding the resources that belong to all of us.”<\/p>\n Let’s put the first caveat out there: we should not be dealing with this. We should have enough money to run our state parks, and pay for our higher education. But, because of both GOP extremism and some crazy governmental structures, we have to make choices.<\/p>\n LandPaths<\/a> is a tremendous organization with some really dedicated staff who are willing to go to incredible lengths to get the job done. And I’m sure the other organizations who are going to take up this challenge are good groups as well. But this has to be a very temporary fix. This is most definitely not a permanent solution to anything, and we need to ensure that this kind of mess does not happen in the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Measure by Jared Huffman would allow non-profits to run parks<\/i><\/p>\n by Brian Leubitz<\/p>\n