Schwarzenegger tries to terminate conservation funding

[Judi Lynn]

Source: New Scientist

Schwarzenegger tries to terminate conservation funding
11:46 16 June 2009 by Peter Aldhous

Conservation projects in California's state parks face a bleak future, if cuts proposed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger go through.

To tackle a swelling state deficit that has reached $24.3 billion, the "Governator" wants to slash spending across the board – including funding for 80 per cent of the 270 sites run by the California Department of Parks and Recreation. Those parks earmarked for closure (pdf) include world-famous attractions such as the giant sequoias at Calaveras Big Trees State Park in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

Gated access roads to some parks would be closed, but many parks can be easily entered from public highways. With no rangers on hand to keep a watchful eye on visitors, that could be bad news for threatened species such as the desert tortoise.

Moving targets
In a recent survey, researchers led by Kristin Berry of the US Geological Survey in Moreno Valley found a worryingly high death rate among young animals in the Red Rock Canyon State Park, north of Los Angeles – some of which had gunshot wounds.

The proposed funding cuts would also eliminate conservation management activities such as the removal of invasive plants and efforts to prevent catastrophic fires. In Calaveras, this involves the removal of fir trees allowed to grow by earlier fire suppression efforts – and which now threaten a conflagration that could engulf the sequoias.


Read more: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17315-schwarzenegger-tries-to-terminate-conservation-funding.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=online-news

[villager]

1. "...some of which had gunshot wounds." Of course.

n/t

[doodadem]

2. No more Kennedy influence

It sounds like Arnie is no longer paying any attention to brother in law, Robt. Kennedy Jr. concerning environmental issues.

[Bette Noir]

3. We need to protect our parks. They're irreplaceable.

Regional volunteerism? I'd be happy to weed (remove invasive plant species) and pick up litter at the parks near my home.

[XemaSab]

5. I had that thought a few days ago

The problem with it is that once you start staffing the parks exclusively with volunteers, that becomes the new normal, and it's hard to go back to having paid staff, and some of the areas really do need paid staff.

[Bette Noir]

6. I work three days a month with Friends of the Elephant Seal,

which provides public education and litter pick-up at a State Parks site in cooperation with the rangers at an affiliated park several miles away. With over a hundred active volunteers, we are able to have at least 2 people on scene for 6 hours/day every day. We get 50 hours of training before starting, and 24 hours of updates annually. The work is great fun; our volunteers only quit, on the whole, when they move away or become too frail to stand outside for three hours at a stretch. FES could serve as a model for volunteer-supported parks statewide.

As far as losing paid ranger positions, that would be unfortunate, but it's better than having the parks sold off for development.

[tclambert]

4. All right, already, we'll tell you where Sarah Connor is!

[Xolodno]

7. I almost wonder if...

I almost wonder if he wants the State of California to get sued for not protecting the public trust (see Mono Lake for an example). Thereby getting a court order to protect these areas...even if not open to the public. I wouldn't be surprised if some environmental groups are already considering this option if the cuts go through (hint hint to anyone thats heavily involved with one).

Not too mention, I'm sure there are some parks that were donated to the state on the condition it was maintained for the public use.

Of course that would mean cutting something else in the budget if there is a court order....

[Hubert Flottz]

8. A few years back Arnold SWORE to the voters in Kolley-4-knee-ya

that he had all the answers. He swore that he could fix the state right up. He lied!