Below is the text of an email sent out to the leadership of my Adventure Guides nation. It has been my role to keep our leadership informed on the status of issues affecting the state parks we use for some of our events.
State Parks Update
On April 20, 2010 an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling rig, operating in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana, resulted in a fire that sank the rig and caused a massive-scale oil spill. How did this event affect the California State Park System? You may not recall is that the Governor’s 2010-11 budget proposal removed core public funding for California’s 278 State Parks and replaced it with funding from a future offshore drilling project. Yesterday Gov. Schwarzenegger announced that he was dropping support for offshore drilling and specifically for the project that was intended to provide funding for the California State Park system. This leaves the State Parks without a clear source of funding in the proposed budget.
It is important that we continue to express to our legislators through our communication and our actions at the ballot box that the State Park System is an important resource for California and requires adequate funding to continue its mission.
California State Parks Mission Statement
To provide for the health, inspiration and education of the people of California by helping to preserve the state’s extraordinary biological diversity, protecting its most valued natural and cultural resources, and creating opportunities for high-quality outdoor recreation.
Redhawk Nation Sixth Aim
To seek and preserve the beauty of the Great Spirit’s work in forest, field and stream.