Many places and people that I met while on a self-supported
tandem bicycle tour with my wife stand out to me. Many occurrences and flukes
also. on
my trip to California where my wife and I rode 1773 miles from Crescent City California
just a few minutes drive from the Oregon border to the Mexican border at Chula
Vista CA the thing that really stood out
and made an impression was the California State Park debacle .
There are hundreds of beautiful state parks that pepper California, with 1000’s of campsites on them. We found our selves on dozens of them over our 4 weeks on the road.
The dilemma is that over 70 of these gorgeous state recreation areas and State Parks are under the threat of being closed. The term “closed” means what will likely happen as with so many other things lately is that the parks will actually be privatized. An individual or a corporation will buy the land. Some of these people will preserve the space to keep it exactly as they are now. Others will convert them into something else. This disrupts the area tremendously of course. Both the flora and the fauna are affected. The human cost can be several fold. One aspect is the amount of jobs that can be lost. The communities surrounded by the parks often are dependent on the income brought in by the campers and their families.
Another aspect if a park is bought and then “closed temporarily” which can take years, is that there will be many young and old people that never have a chance to experience the wonder of being in nature. My time as a child being in the great outdoors with my family tend to be some of the best memories I have of my childhood which was chaotic to say the least. The woods and a riverbed were always a place of peace and a place where it seemed like all the pieces fit together and made sense.
There are hundreds of beautiful state parks that pepper California, with 1000’s of campsites on them. We found our selves on dozens of them over our 4 weeks on the road.
The dilemma is that over 70 of these gorgeous state recreation areas and State Parks are under the threat of being closed. The term “closed” means what will likely happen as with so many other things lately is that the parks will actually be privatized. An individual or a corporation will buy the land. Some of these people will preserve the space to keep it exactly as they are now. Others will convert them into something else. This disrupts the area tremendously of course. Both the flora and the fauna are affected. The human cost can be several fold. One aspect is the amount of jobs that can be lost. The communities surrounded by the parks often are dependent on the income brought in by the campers and their families.
Another aspect if a park is bought and then “closed temporarily” which can take years, is that there will be many young and old people that never have a chance to experience the wonder of being in nature. My time as a child being in the great outdoors with my family tend to be some of the best memories I have of my childhood which was chaotic to say the least. The woods and a riverbed were always a place of peace and a place where it seemed like all the pieces fit together and made sense.
The idea that other kids and
their families may not be able to have the same experience seems criminal. It
seems more important than ever that kids and their parents can have time in the
woods or in true natural environments so that we don’t lose this ever important
connection with the earth.
California is almost completely bankrupt due to frivolous spending at the Capitol in Sacramento and throughout other myopic financial choices. Now the entire state and tourists will suffer.
The unemployment rate in California as I’m writing this s now 10.7% and will surely increase. The homeless rate is high and will also be sure to grow. By closing these parks we will add to the daunting number of these two statistics and countless other ramifications. I’m glad to have these images to show, in the hopes that it may encourage others to head out west.
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