This year, the governor and legislature approved an $11 million spending cut for state parks - and twice as much next year. In response, the Parks Department placed 70 parks on a closure list and announced sharp maintenance and staffing reductions at the sites staying open.
Verardo-Torres: "I think there is growing interest in the legislature to go back to the governor and say, look, we don't think that the state parks system can afford this."
Traci Verardo-Torres with the California State Parks Foundation says she's urging lawmakers to change course.
Verardo-Torres: "That's going to cause economic harm to local communities. It's going to exacerbate the barriers about trying to find solutions to keep parks open. And we think they should not make that additional $11 million cut."
But the State Parks Department and the governor's Department of Finance both say they believe the full $22 million cut is unavoidable.
