News from Sac regarding Parks

4/8/08

Volunteers and State Parks, and the closing of same -
Yesterday in Sac:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger played politics with parks Monday,
using Sacramento County's treasured jewel of the American
River Parkway as a backdrop to boost a bill to make it easier
for volunteers to keep them clean and green.

Barely an hour after his appearance underneath the budding oaks
by the banks of the river, 200 protesters descended on the Capitol
to implore Schwarzenegger to recant on his proposed budget cuts
that would close 48 parks in the state system.

Schwarzenegger's support for volunteerism in the parks, at the same
time he is seeking to close four dozen of the state's finest came as
a curiosity to west-steps protesters.

Elizabeth Goldstein, president of the California State Parks Foundation,
said in an interview she was in favor of the Schwarzenegger-backed
legislation to reduce the restrictions on people who want to volunteer.

BUT, she also wants to make sure they have a place to do their thing,

"I would hope, since he respects the contributions volunteers make,
he would respect them by keeping the parks open they've been
working so hard to support for so long," Goldstein said.

note: there were surfboards visible in the Capitol / parks-protest,

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