California State Parks Saved!

Several months ago I wrote a letter to Gov. Schwarzenegger telling him exactly what I thought of his proposal to close 48 state parks and 16 state beaches as part of his budget plan. I received a response, but it was a lame excuse email from an intern.

Today I received this email from the group whose website I used to send Schwarzenegger my two cents:

Hi Robert,

Thanks to your e-mails and generous contributions, today Gov. Schwarzenegger REMOVED the proposal to close 48 state parks and 16 state beaches from his budget plan.

I'm really relieved, and proud, that we were able to stop this plan -- together.

Once the governor proposed closing 48 state parks we jumped into action. Meeting with staff in the governor's office, working with the media, and working with all of you, we demonstrated strong opposition to the proposal to close the parks.

In one week, more than 31,000 of us e-mailed the governor and asked him to keep the parks open. The good news is that he heard us and for now the parks are safe, but this campaign has taught us that the parks need more protection. For years, funding for the parks has gone down.

While this is not the end of the fight -- we will now need to make sure we have a long term plan for protecting our parks -- it is a huge victory.

So pat yourself on the back and get ready for the next battle. We need to reverse the trend of park funding and ensure that we can protect our parks for future generations.

Thanks for all your hard work.

Sincerely,

Dan Jacobson
Environment California Legislative Director
DanJ@environmentcalifornia.org
http://www.environmentcalifornia.org

It feels good to know that I spoke up on an issue I felt strongly about and contributed to a collective voice that was heard and answered.