Parks received long overdue money this year for basic maintenance, but it has to become a tradition rather than a special event, and that funding tradition needs to also include the major park in our hometown, the American River Parkway.
The American River Natural History Association is sponsoring a public forum on just that topic this coming Thursday and information can be found at their website, http://www.arnha.org/parkwaynews.html .
An excerpt from the Bee editorial.
Editorial: Summer of love
Budget invests in neglected state parks
Published 12:01 am PDT Saturday, July 8, 2006
California's budget troubles of recent years have not only hurt the state's public schools, roads and welfare programs, they also have added to a growing backlog of basic repairs at California's state parks.
At Sutter's Fort in Sacramento, about $1 million is needed to repair weak and even crumbling walls at this popular tourist attraction.
At La Purisima Mission near Lompoc, rain that falls through a leaky roof is slowly rotting this wooden building, built in 1787.
These are not isolated examples. Altogether, the state parks system -- which provides recreation, sanctuary and learning experiences for 80 million visitors a year -- faces a $906 million backlog of deferred maintenance.
This year's budget should take a bite out of that backlog. The budget includes $250 million in maintenance funding, thought to be the largest investment ever for repairs of California's 278 parks.
