The Lyin King
Public Lands Advocate
First of all, let me acknowledge that this initiative is primarily “fronted†by the "Green" folks, who are Anti-OHV, but they have clout and therefore I believe that we need to leverage their numbers and get on-board whenever it is advantageous for us to do so.
Having said so, here’s the latest from the “Green†group that is helping to maintain our access to the State of California’s Parks.
“An update from the President:
A huge thank you to the over 30,000 people who have signed over 87,000 letters delivered to legislators over the last week! Last night in Sacramento, we showed that park supporters have passion for our parks - and staying power! After waiting 4 hours past the time we were scheduled to testify, over 100 park advocates packed the Budget Conference Committee to lobby to keep state parks open. We only had 60 seconds each to talk, but advocates around the state pressed our case for state parks - which drive local economic activity and provide much-needed, low cost recreation. No vote was taken, but committee members were sympathetic. A vote may come on this issue next week.
Almost masked by the turmoil of the park closures debate, the park protection movement did have two great victories. On Monday Sen. Wolk's bill SB 679 passed off the Senate floor and then on Tuesday Sen. Kehoe's bill SB 372 passed off the Senate floor as well. Both of these bills now move onto the Assembly. The first stop will be the Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee chaired by Assemblymember Jared Huffman.
Thank you to everyone who took action and let your legislators know how important these bills are to protecting our parks.â€ÂÂ
Read more here . . . Parklands E-Newsletter June 2009
Having said so, here’s the latest from the “Green†group that is helping to maintain our access to the State of California’s Parks.
“An update from the President:
A huge thank you to the over 30,000 people who have signed over 87,000 letters delivered to legislators over the last week! Last night in Sacramento, we showed that park supporters have passion for our parks - and staying power! After waiting 4 hours past the time we were scheduled to testify, over 100 park advocates packed the Budget Conference Committee to lobby to keep state parks open. We only had 60 seconds each to talk, but advocates around the state pressed our case for state parks - which drive local economic activity and provide much-needed, low cost recreation. No vote was taken, but committee members were sympathetic. A vote may come on this issue next week.
Almost masked by the turmoil of the park closures debate, the park protection movement did have two great victories. On Monday Sen. Wolk's bill SB 679 passed off the Senate floor and then on Tuesday Sen. Kehoe's bill SB 372 passed off the Senate floor as well. Both of these bills now move onto the Assembly. The first stop will be the Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee chaired by Assemblymember Jared Huffman.
Thank you to everyone who took action and let your legislators know how important these bills are to protecting our parks.â€ÂÂ
Read more here . . . Parklands E-Newsletter June 2009
