State park cuts could block access to Ventura County beaches

Zeke Barlow

Jun. 4, 2009 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- Welcome to the new Ventura County coastline.

Many of the beaches are closed.

Folks who flock to the shore in their RVs and tents to spend the day watching sunsets and dolphins are shut out of their favorite campgrounds. Most of the lifeguards -- and the aspiring junior lifeguards -- are gone. And that nice bike and running path in Ventura has a gate across it telling you to stay out.

This is the scenario state park managers are bracing for if the proposed cuts to balance the state budget are approved. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed closing virtually every state park to meet the projected $24 billion budget shortfall. Though the threat of widespread park closures because of budget cuts has happened before, it has never come to fruition.

"To see these go away is very concerning," said Richard Rozzelle, a district superintendent for California State Parks in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. "There are benefits of parks that are intangible."

They are benefits that Bobbi Snodgrass knows well.

"This is my outlet," the retired Oxnard woman said this week at McGrath State Beach Park, where she's been coming for nine years to watch the stars while a pot of beans cooks over a campfire. "We need a place to come and unwind."

In the Ventura County area, state parks that could close include Emma Wood State Park, San Buenaventura State Beach Park, McGrath State Beach Park, Point Mugu State Park and Leo Carrillo State Park. The more than 1.3 million people who visited those parks either for the day or overnight last year would have to find new places to swim, surf, hike, camp, fish or just be with family.

If a state park closes, nobody would be allowed on the property -- including the beach, though Rozzelle realizes that would be nearly impossible to enforce. Most of his staff would be let go, so there wouldn't be many there to enforce the laws.

He fears that could lead to increased vandalism, homeless encampments, deterioration of already aging buildings and untold amounts of human excrement because the bathrooms are closed.

Though the beaches could have "no trespassing" signs sunk in the sand -- violating it would be considered a misdemeanor -- people could still legally walk below the mean high tide line.

Rozzelle was told that if the cuts are approved, no changes would take place until after Labor Day. But he fears that if the parks close, they would remain closed for three years. He said reopening a park could be costly because the buildings would be run down after years without maintenance.

Jim Luttjohann, executive director of the Ventura Convention and Tourism Bureau, said an extended closure could change people's travel patterns. Even after the parks reopened, those visitors would be accustomed to going elsewhere.

"It would certainly take a lot of people who live in Arizona or Nevada out of the mix," he said. "The impact would be significant."

He is already getting calls form hotels that bill themselves as beachside haunts wondering what they would do without the beach access.

The proposal calls for State Parks to cut about $140 million from its budget, which could mean all the state parks in Ventura County would close. If a much more modest cut of $20 million is approved, at least one park in the county would close, he said.

First on the chopping block would be San Buenaventura State Beach Park, where about 80,000 visitors picnicked and rode their bikes last year. If it were to close, a fence would be put over the entry to a path, three-quarters of a mile long, that links to a bike path leading from the Pierpont area to Ojai.

Emma Wood State Beach Park, which 65,000 people visited last year, would be next to go.

The roughly 150 lifeguards who patrol the beaches would be gone, as would the popular Junior Lifeguard Program.

The three parks in Ventura County in Rozzelle's district -- Emma Wood, San Buenaventura and McGrath -- bring in about $1 million in revenue annually, but cost $2.1 million to run.

When considering all the money beachgoers spend on gas, food and other things while in town, he said the parks help the economy. He said for every dollar the state spends to keep parks open, $2.35 comes back to the state through taxes from the money people spend at the park.

"Obviously, from a tourism standpoint, it would have a significant impact," said Bill Buratto, president of the Ventura County Economic Development Association. He wondered if the county or cities could help keep the parks open.

Luttjohann said even people just driving through Ventura on Highway 101 would see the parks in disrepair and wonder if it was worth stopping.

John Durso of Simi Valley recently bought an RV so his family could head to Emma Wood State Park and other parks around California. He figures between food and supplies, he spends a few hundred dollars in Ventura on every trip he takes.

He understands the budget is a mess and that there is talk of reduced healthcare, releasing prisoners early and laying off teachers to bridge the gap, but he said there is a value in parks that needs to be recognized.

"You talk about education," he said, gesturing to the beach where his kids and grandkids have studied birds, watched dolphins and spent hours of quality time with the family.

"The best part of camping is all the family time together," he said.

Down the beach, Jose Menendez was casting a fishing line in the water as he and his wife spent a few days in their RV. He fears that closing beach parks removes part of the charm that is California. Without it, he thinks fewer will stay in the state or visit it.

"This is what attracted people to California and why we stayed here for 25 years," said the Simi Valley airline pilot. "If they go down that path, it's going to backfire."

Karen Brogan and her husband, Larry, became the camp hosts at McGrath State Beach four years ago and now spend about nine months of the year looking after the park.

"This is a sanctuary," she said, looking out at the campground with 168 tent sites. Boy and Girl Scouts pack the camp every summer weekend when families come for an affordable vacations. Brogan has come to love the sound of children laughing and playing as much the birds that flit through the trees.

"They are going to take this away and it's wrong," she said. "It's an embarrassment."

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