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IN THE NEWS
Editor: Who could believe it? The governor's budget is proposing the closure of 48 state parks to address the state's budget problems. These parks span California and include 17 state parks, 17 state historic parks and museums, three state beaches, nine state recreation areas and two state reserves. Two of the 48 are in Benicia - the Benicia State Recreation Area and the Benicia Capitol State Historic Park. Anyone who has visited these two sites knows what they mean to the Benicia community and the people of this county. [More] The Benicia State Recreation Area is an oasis of sanity. It's a great place to picnic under Monterey pines, watch birds, take photographs, view the sailing in the Carquinez Strait and enjoy the wetlands and rolling green hills and the flowers. A unique feature in this park is a 100 percent volunteer- maintained California native plant garden with blooms year round. For hiking and biking enthusiasts, the park includes sections of both the Bay Area Ridge Trail and the San Francisco Bay Trail, connecting our world to the entire Bay Area nature trail system. And they want us to do without it? The Benicia Capitol State Historic Park is the site of California's state government from 1853 to 1854 and is the only pre-Sacramento capitol that still survives. It was lovingly restored with reconstructed period furnishings and exhibits dating to the time of the Gold Rush. And they want to close it? What is even more troubling is that the cost savings to the state for all 48 closures is a mere $13.3 million, when compared to the $14 billion state deficit. The governor and the Legislature are going to have to figure out a better and more substantive solution to correct the mess they created over the last five years. And closing all 48 parks will not even get us 1 percent of the way there. I urge everyone who cares about these parks to contact their legislators and the governor's office immediately and voice their concern. I have! Here are the numbers to call:
If you would like more information on this issue, you may also go to www.SaveBeniciaSRA.org. Linda Seifert, Fairfield |
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This Letter to the Editor was written by Linda Seifert, and appeared in the Vallejo Times-Herald and the Benicia Herald on February 4, 2008: