Three California State Parks on the closure list will be kept open through an agreement reached between the National Park Service (NPS) and the California State Parks (CSP).
The parks included are: Tomales Bay State Park, located within both Point Reyes National Seashore and Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Samuel P. Taylor State Park, located within Golden Gate National Recreation Area; and, Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park, located within Redwood National Park near Crescent City.
The key to this arrangement is that the three state parks are within the legislative boundaries of National Parks where joint federal/state agreements have existed for years for the sharing of staffing, resource protection and park operations. Closure of any state park within National Park Service’ boundaries would likely have negative impacts on national park resources and visitor experiences, as well as negative impacts on the local economies.
The NPS will support normal day-to-day operations needed to keep the parks open. However, no additional federal funding will be available and no major or long-term infrastructure repairs will be accomplished.
Operations managed by the NPS for California State Parks will be dependent upon existing NPS funds along with the regular State Park fees collected at the respective parks.
This is a one-year agreement on a trial basis and renewable as long as both the National Park Service and California State Parks desire to continue such an arrangement. This agreement maintains the park visitor experience for the more than 250,000 who visit these parks yearly. It also maintains the economic input those visitors provide for the local communities surrounding those parks.
Visitors planning next year’s trip to any of these parks or portions of parks can be assured that the facilities, to include day-use areas and campgrounds, will be open to the public beginning at least one week before Memorial Day weekend until at least one week following Labor Day weekend. The existing reservation system, ReserveAmerica will still be utilized for all reservations. All California State Parks as well as all federal passes will be honored.
This agreement is similar, but not the same as, the 2009 agreement wherein the National Park Service helped operate 12 parks located within National Park boundaries. The difference is that this plan targets parks on the closure list. Another difference is that the National Park Service will be able to use the fees collected from the respective state parks to offset their costs.
For detailed information on how this agreement will be implemented on the ground, please contact the following:
Contacts for Del Norte Redwoods State Park
NPS: Candace Tinkler – (707) 465-7304
CSP: Jeff Bomke – (707) 465-7332
Contacts for Tomales Bay State Park
NPS: John Dell’Osso – (415) 464-5135
CSP: Danita Rodriguez – (707) 769-5665
Contacts for Samuel P. Taylor State Park
NPS: Howard Levitt – (415) 561-4730
CSP: Danita Rodriguez – (707) 769-5665
