Washington Parks, Trails on Hit List

Hey Everyone
I'm sure a lot of you have heard of the plan to try and close 48 State parks and trail areas in Washington. These are truly beautiful areas and I would hate to see even one of the closed.
I usually do not solicit peoples signatures on petitions, but this is one cause I'm a very strong believer in. It would really be appreciate if you could take the time and click on the link and sign the petition to try to save our beautiful parks and trails.
Thank you in advance

Ray Still

The State plans to close 48 of our state parks, including some of the finest and most spectacular:

Here's a first draft of the list:

Alta Lake
Beacon Rock
Columbia Plateau Trail
Dash Point
Federation Forest
Fields Spring
Flaming Geyser
Fort Casey
Fort Columbia
Fort Ebey
Fort Flagler
Ginkgo/Wanapum
Illahee
Jarrell Cove
Lake Easton
Lake Wenatchee
Larrabee
Lewis & Clark
Maryhill
Millersylvania Memorial
Mount Spokane
Ocean City
Peace Arch
Potlatch
Rainbow Falls
Sacajawea
Saint Edward
Saltwater
Sun Lakes - Dry Falls
Twin Harbors
Wallace Falls
Wenatchee Confluence
Yakima Sportsman


Do your part to stop this from happening: the only way we can stop it is through mass outrage. Our state treasures should be promoted as destination spots that even the most limited budget can afford.


Sign the online petition:



http://www.petitiononline.com/WASHPARK/petition.html
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/WASHPARK/

Thats horrible, the state parks and national parks are a treasure in this country and something that should not be taken for granted. I signed the petition.

Just to clarify here, by "close" they mean mothball the parks until funding can be re-secured, not closed as in its gone forever. They'll lock the gates, shut the restrooms and turn off the water but there really won't be any reason people still couldn't visit (and if they want to write tickets for violators of the "closure" that patrolling sure as heck is money better spent elsewhere) - parking could be a problem at several spots however.

Signed. 1295 so far. C'mon, people!

As the petition mentions, mothballing isn't a solution, either. Although it's better than selling them off for condo development , the likely result would be the parks getting overrun by vandals. Would you want to try to reopen one of these a couple of years down the line, and find every rock wall and boulder on the property had been "tagged" with spray-paint?

"the likely result would be the parks getting overrun by vandals. Would you want to try to reopen one of these a couple of years down the line, and find every rock wall and boulder on the property had been "tagged" with spray-paint? "

That was the first thing that went through my mind when I read this.

"the likely result would be the parks getting overrun by vandals. Would you want to try to reopen one of these a couple of years down the line, and find every rock wall and boulder on the property had been "tagged" with spray-paint? "

That was the first thing that went through my mind when I read this.

You know, when I first saw this list, I gravitated immediately to Flaming Geyser (because it's near to where I live) and Fort Casey (because my daughter has a school camping trip there in a few days). It wasn't until later that I looked over the entire list once again, and realized that Wallace Falls is on the hit-list. This is outrageous -- Wallace Falls is not only one of the largest and most well-known of waterfalls here in Washington, it's also one of the most frequent tourist and hiking destinations. If they're going to close down access to Wallace Falls (and, to be honest, with all the cuts in basic support, health care, and college education in the budget already, it's going to be hard as hell to reverse reductions in state park service), what next? Heather Meadows?

my opinion FWIW is that this wouldn't be the case if the state wasn't required to have such high-maintenance facilities. Law requires that if it's a state park, it has to have this, that, and the other thing. If the politicians could be satisfied with outhouses, no showers, primitive camp sites (as in no fancy tent pads, etc) then maintaining a park would be exponentially cheaper. And not every park should have to have paved roads.

We should be able to have SOME parks that are a little more primitive, and low maintenance.

John Q Public cries out for fancy facilities, and full "accessibility" in every park, and sooner or later, we've got a horrendous maintenance burden, and we end up closing the parks completely. Yeah, I know it's technically "mothballing" but let's be real. Most of these parks will never reopen because they'll be too trashed.

But I'm not bitter...

While I don't support such closures of this fasion, I also certainly wouldn't want to be in state governments around the US trying to figure out what to do with billions of shortfalls. In Oregon they are making idiotic decisions like taking $8 million in funds from dedicated 911 tax to pay for other things in the general fund, even though taking $8 million now violates Federal law and could result in the loss of $20 million a year in lost revenues. How these people make decisions like this is beyond me.

With regards to the parks, I don't know how many are fee parks, but I think the state should market these parks as inexpensive alternatives for family outings, etc. Get people there, collect fees, get donations. There are many people out there who would be interested in low cost options for entertainment. Maybe that's a pipe dream of mine, but I can think of other programs that should be cut first. It's pretty easy to armchair legislate though.

Wow, that list is outrageous! I will definitely voice my concern to the powers that be!

What!!! The list is outrageous! Some of the most popular and beautiful and well used parks are on there! I guess WA has never heard of making a few bucks on TOURISM.

This after hearing of the proposed cuts in basic safety net programs for the poor and disabled… I'm just disgusted…
I will gladly take up my pen!