Is Clear Lake State Park Closing?

[Auggie Dog]

I'm not sure if anyone saw the story a while back that under the new round of budget cuts, 48 Cal State parks will be either shut down or run at a reduced capacity. I know Clear Lake was on the list and now has been removed from the Reserve America reservation website. This system is the only way to make reservations for the park (been that way for years) and it is not there anymore. I tried to call the park and the message is still the same as it has been so I am now curious.

Does anyone know if it is now or soon to be closed? This would be a blow to fishermen since I know many stay there in the Summer like we do and it is by far the best camping option for fishermen on Clear Lake.


Auggie Dog

[eagle123777]

it was there last week when i check my dates for this year, but u are right its not there today...hopefully its just a software clich..jack

[eagle123777]

reseveramericas webpage says the CA parks are unavailable right now but will return for reservations on friday the 22nd...jack

[Mark Royer]

Sorry to say, yes it is on the list. Here is the map.

http://govbud.dof.ca.gov/BudgetSummary/ ... ES-01.html

This is not a done deal yet though. State Parks was asked for a preliminary list, and the governor's office released it as is. There will be alot of negotiations there will be actual closed gates.

[Johnny C]

I read that it would cost every person inthe the State 24 cents a year to keep them open. We should be building more parks with our population exploding like it is. We now have more people in our state than Canada.

[TTCal]

Wow that's a lot of parks! I like the facilities at Clear Lake SP, hope they don't close it down

[allbelac]

Not to make this a political thread, but doesn't this prove how bad our government is at managing our money? If they can't keep parks running, how do they expect to keep anything else going. We all need to do our part to keep the government out of our lives.
How many millions of dollars are we spending on fishing and hunting licenses. How many millions do we spend on fees to the state park systems? How many millions do we spend on sales tax on all of the fishing and boating equipment we buy? Where does it all go.... I will tell you, crap programs that try to fix previous crap programs that are not working. When will we learn???

[Johnny C]

Get ready it will be 14$ to launch at Melones next year. It was in the local paper today.

[bahlzar]

dang, my club does 2 tournys there every year and they are both 2 dayers and we stay at state park......that sucks big time !!

[kopper_bass]

Yeah,
Ours too. we had an outing this weekend and was discussing the consequences if we cant get in when we go to Clear Lake next month.

Hmmm ....... sounds like a business opportunity for someone who lives there.

Bob???
Sieg???
Larry???
Others???

Kopper_Bass

[BassinFever]

Well, don't just take it laying down, get all the clubs together and fire off some letters. At least you wil know that you did something!

[Greg_Cornish]

Lake county has 2 state parks, both are closing june 1

[Caudawg]

The state should consider outsourcing the overall park management for a few years until the state gets its financial house back in order. That way, the state still gets a cut of the revenues...and the park will not be left to rot.
I will be sending a letter to the appropriate state officials with my suggestions. I will also contact my friends at Urban Park Concessionaires...who run several nice operations on Bay Area Lakes.
Outsourcing makes a lot of sense if you ask me.

[Phil Burgess]

SO GREG IT IS TRUE THE STATE PARK IS CLOSING THAT IS A SHAME!!!!!!!!!! HOW CAN WE FIND OUT MORE DETAILS

[RougeBass]

So what will happen to the park and all the facilities?

[Dan McKenzie]

according to the proposal for closing 48 state parks, to make it on the list the park must be easily secured "locked". so despite a parks popularity, or not if it is easily secured/locked it may be one that gets chosen for closure. also from what I understand the parks that are on the list as of now have a total of only 6 million visitors a year combined, compared to 70+ million at the remaining state parks not on the list.

[Greg_Cornish]

So what will happen to the park and all the facilities?

They have no way of locking the park up. People will still come and go. Watch the vandals come out in force. The parks just won't be staffed.

[allbelac]

The park will be staffed, with your local law enforcement handling all of the problems the empty park will bring.

[Mark Royer]

The park will be staffed, with your local law enforcement handling all of the problems the empty park will bring.

Sorry, no local law inforcement allowed...State park. At least that is what they will try to sell you.

I volunteer in one of the parks that is on the list. Here is the State Parks read on this...few if any of the closures will occur. That is if the people get off their butts and call, write or email their state reps and the governor's office. This is a political football, and it is time to stuff it up Arnold's backside.

I figure that we could really cut the state budget...Fire 50% of the governor's staff and fire one of every three assistants to the legislature.

[Greg_Cornish]

If they want to cut the State parks budget, why not just cut it 10% across the board instead of 10% off the parks?

[MIKE TREMONT]

You know guys they are cutting everything across the board. I saw on the news the other night that many folks that have a hard time taking care of themselves, are going to lose there in home care.

One of the opponents of this cut back had some numbers. These are just off the top of my head, so the cut back would save the state $10 million, but many of these folks would have to move into full time facilities which would cost the state about $60 million !

Most of these politicians are freaking idiots and have lost most if not all any common sense they ever had. They have no foresight and if they do they could care less. Reminds me of a dumb blonde joke I once read: Overdrawn? How can I be overdrawn, I still have checks.

We are the ones that can fix it. I wish I could tell you how, but it ain't working the way it is.

PS-Obama/Clinton ain't the answer . Couldn't resist, please forgive me.

[Greg_Cornish]

...Reminds me of a dumb blonde joke I once read: Overdrawn? How can I be overdrawn, I still have checks....

It was my sister in law, she's brunette - really. She also said to a waitress. "OOOO that Super Salad sounds good, I'll have that!"

PS-Obama/Clinton ain't the answer . Couldn't resist, please forgive me.

You're a very naughty boy

[Bob Myskey]

According to Melissa Fulton the director of the Lakeport Chamber of Commerce, our Clear Lake State Park will not be closing in June.
She states that a contingent of people in fact will be going to the capital in April with signed petitions to submit to the governor opposing the closures. If you would like to support this you can e mail the chamber at info@lakeportchamber.com
and they will e mail you a petition you can sign. Action speaks louder than words so if you want to step up and be pro active here is your chance. Thanks' Bob Myskey, www.fishclearlake.com

[FISH2WIN55]

It is really a shame that this is even happening. I know that this is going to have a huge effect on the local community here. There is a lot of money dropped on fishing and outdoor activities here, the closure of the state park would definitly impact that.

[MIKE TREMONT]

Thanks for the link Bob.

I've asked for a copy, as we all should.

[Dan McKenzie]

a good place for facts on potential park closures and information on those parks is here. you can also sign the petition if you choose to from this page.

http://www.calparks.org/act-now/2008-bu ... posal.html

[MIKE TREMONT]

That was easy, thanks Dan.

[Bob Myskey]

From our local chamber, I just received info that our Governor signed bills today for the budget that ""does not include'' the closure of any of our State Parks.

www.calchamber.com/cc/headlines/economy/02192008ts.hm

This should settle the matter for now, thanks' Bob Myskey www.fishclearlake.com

[fish_food]

I volunteer in one of the parks that is on the list. Here is the State Parks read on this...few if any of the closures will occur. That is if the people get off their butts and call, write or email their state reps and the governor's office. This is a political football, and it is time to stuff it up Arnold's backside.

Political football is EXACTLY what it is. How to budget monies in gummint: throw in the expensive red herrings that you don't mind having chopped from your budget in the first round to protect the stuff you really care about for the REAL budget. They already know the citizenry aren't going to allow or stand for the shutting down of the parks originally listed.

[Auggie Dog]

Thanks Dan, that link was easy and fast. I hope everyone here will still sign this to let them know how we feel. They could still bring this up the next time they are looking for cuts.

Auggie Dog

[Elmhurst bassman]

This is absolutely ridiculous!!!! I was doing a little research on this and I also found the following proposed cuts:

--$1.2 million in 2007-08 and $3.8 million and 5.7 positions in 2008-09 for the California Conservation Corps' Training and Work Program. This reduction will eliminate 75 of 1,310 existing corpsmember slots.
--$44.7 million and 361 positions for CAL FIRE's Fire Protection Program. This reduction will shift funding for 20 one-engine fire stations, 11 conservation camps, and 1 helitack base from the General Fund to the Insurance Fund, and will be supported by a surcharge on commercial and residential property insurance policies.
--$3.0 million and 20.9 positions for CALFIRE's Resource Management Program. This reduction will reduce funding for fuel treatment activities and the review of timber harvest plans.
--$1.4 million in 2007-08 and $3.6 million and 20.9 positions in 2008-09 for the Department of Fish and Game's (Fish and Game's) Biodiversity Conservation Program. This reduction will reduce funding for habitat restoration projects and the review of timber harvest plans.
--$2.6 million for Fish and Game's Enforcement Program. This reduction will eliminate 38 fish and game warden positions, out of 370 existing enforcement positions. These wardens are responsible for enforcing fish and game laws, inspecting vessels for quagga mussels, and protecting sensitive populations of marine species.
--$1.0 million in 2007-08 and $13.3 million and 129.2 positions in 2008-09 for the Department of Parks and Recreation's (Parks) state park system. This reduction will close 48 state parks out of 278 existing parks and reduce seasonal lifeguards at state beaches in Orange, San Diego, and Santa Cruz Counties by a minimum of 50 percent.
--$5.4 million for the Department of Water Resources' (DWR) Flood Management Program. This reduction will be partially offset because Proposition 1E and Proposition 84 funds are available for erosion repair, sediment removal, and Delta levee projects.

This just disgusts me....all of the money available to the government in this state and they still can't manage to run this place any better than the chick in Mike T's post..." What do you mean I am overdrawn???I still have checks!!"