Brown unveils plan to close 70 California parks

[cali]

SAN JOSE, Calif -- SAN JOSE, Calif. - Seventy of California's 278 state parks will be closed under a plan announced Friday by Gov. Jerry Brown's administration, a historic blow to the state's storied natural heritage that may actually get worse as lawmakers scramble to fix the budget crisis.

Although state parks officials initially said Friday the padlocks would go up starting in September, they revised that later in the day, saying instead none would close until July 1, 2012.

The list includes a significant number of Northern California parks, including Henry W. Coe State Park near Morgan Hill; Castle Rock and Twin Lakes State Beach in Santa Cruz County; Portola Redwoods in San Mateo County; Moss Landing State Beach and Limekiln State Park in Big Sur; and Samuel P. Taylor State Park in Marin County.

"We were working night and day to keep this day from coming. Nobody wanted to have to do this," said state Natural Resources Secretary John Laird.


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Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/05/13/3625704/brown-unveils-plan-to-close-70.html#ixzz1MVSx1WBW