Rising Crime
According to Department crime statistics, in 1998 there were approximately
23,000 crimes reported. In 2009 there were over 73,000 crimes reported and
over 98,000 other incidents requiring response.1 State Parks experience the
same crimes found in cities and counties. Crimes include everything from
murder, child abuse, rape, armed robbery, assault with deadly weapons,
domestic violence, drug dealing and cultivation, theft of cultural and natural
resources, and vandalism of facilities. If parks are closed, these activities will not
stop, rather they will continue to impact the parks along with the neighboring
communities. Keeping parks open will help keep them safe by minimizing crime
1 California State Parks Law Enforcement Division - February 2010 courtesy Superintendent of
Telecommunications
CSPRA Testimony? Assembly Joint Hearing on State Park Closures November 1, 2011

and minimizing resource and facility/infrastructure damage. Other State and local
law enforcement agency budgets and staffing are stretched to the limits. Their
ability to incur the additional workload of closed parks may not be possible or
desirable. Many of our parks are in very remote areas, making response time by
other law enforcement agencies extremely delayed, if at all possible.
Resource and Facility Degradation
Closing a state park will add to the break-down of an already deteriorating
infrastructure of roads, buildings, restrooms, waste water treatment plants,
historic structures, and other public facilities. Closing State Parks is demolition by
neglect. The deferred maintenance backload is already over $1 billion.
For example, shutting down water lines will cause many of the seals located in
the lines to dry out and the Department may find itself having to replace miles of
pipeline. If the Department's water and sewage treatment permits expire in
closed parks, we could be facing huge costs to comply with the required
upgrades to renew the permit.
We are already seeing increased vandalism including rampant theft of copper
pipes and other metals with money being used from the sale of these metals to
support such activities as drug trafficking.
Closing parks will also cause the deterioration of the natural environment such as
the spread of non-native species, which in turn requires additional funds to
restore the habitat to its original healthy state. Additionally, lack of resource
protection poses threats to threatened and endangered species in several of the
parks scheduled for closure.
The majority of parks on the closure list are state historic parks. One cannot just
close the door and walk away. Vandalism, theft and deterioration will increase.
There will likely be looting of archaeological features including Native American
sites in unprotected areas.
Another significant hidden cost is the time consuming and labor intensive
process of protecting irreplaceable cultural artifacts in our closed parks. This
includes inventorying, cataloguing, meticulous preparation for moving and then
the parallel process to properly and safely store the collections.
It is critical to have cultural staff on site to handle problems as they occur. These
include unstable foundations, leaking roofs and windows, mold and pest damage.
If you close a park, these will continue to fester and result in increased future
costs. Petaluma Adobe State Historic Park is an example, as adobe structures
require consistent protection to prevent water and other environmental damage.
CSPRA Testimony? Assembly Joint Hearing on State Park Closures November 1, 2011

Materials used in protecting adobe bricks must be very carefully prepared and
applied by trained staff and repairing and stabilizing adobe structures is costly.
Cost of developing sustainable partnerships
As was stated in the Sacramento Bee editorial yesterday, October 31,
partnerships are not a panacea. We know that partnerships strengthen CA State
Parks, bringing in critical funding and other resources and more park advocates,
in addition to building bridges to diverse communities. However, a successful
and sustainable partnership requires trained state park staff.
Potential partners must first be screened for economic viability to ensure that all
mission critical functions will be provided. In addition, once the non-profit
organizations are identified, appropriate professional staff is needed to develop
the necessary and appropriate legal agreements (MOUs etc), execute those
agreements and then evaluate and monitor the services and funding
arrangements to ensure they comply with federal and state regulations and are
consistent with the State Park mission.
Potential partnerships also involve the continued costs of state park operation. A
number of potential partners seek the revenue generating elements of a park unit
operation, leaving the remainder of the operation (usually the maintenance, law
enforcement and resource management functions) to be completed by
specialized park staff. Much of this work requires specially educated, certificated
and experienced staff which most potential partners do not have. All partnership
agreements must ensure that federal and state laws such as NEPA and CEQA2
are followed.
Makakoff Diggins State Historic Park, the site of California's largest hydraulic
mine, is an example of all three of the above points. Law enforcement
assistance by other agencies is very problematic due to the very remote location.
There are already indications that people are trying to remove the historic water
cannons. The park contains numerous historic buildings and structures which
must be placed in caretaker status or “mothballed” if closed. Any prospective
partner wishing to operate the park must have the specialized personnel and
resources to comply with the relevant laws, regulations and procedures3 to
preserve the historic resources.
2 NEPA? National Environmental Policy Act
CEQA - California Environmental Quality Act
3 Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties
CSPRA Testimony? Assembly Joint Hearing on State Park Closures November 1, 2011

Closing
These public-trust-resources are part of the very fabric of California, its people,
and our heritage. They must not be exploited or irreversibly damaged in the
short-term, so that they may return once-again, intact, for future generations.
Parks belong to us, our children, our grandchildren and the next generations to
come. The National Trust for Historic Preservation listed the California State Park
system as a whole, on their list of America's Most Endangered Places. Do not let
them become extinct. We have the responsibility to preserve and protect these
irreplaceable treasures that are our heritage.

Thank you for this opportunity to address your hearing