Audubon California and local Audubon chapters have a long history of support for California State Parks, and it has been heartbreaking watching this valuable treasure threatened year after year by state budget cuts. In recent years, we have sought to support the parks through a variety of means, including an endowment that funds parks conservation and a 2010 ballot initiative that sought to provide a stable source of funding that would keep state parks open and protect wildlife.

The relationship between Audubon and California State Parks goes back to the 1960s when the state was beginning to identify and prioritize the protection of key natural areas for their scenic, natural, historical and recreational potential. Since then, the two organizations have partnered on many conservation and education projects, with Audubon contributing not just funding, but technical support and volunteers as well.

In 2007, Audubon California established an endowment to provide long-term financial assistance to California State Parks to support important conservation, restoration and public outreach projects. We feel strongly about protecting the legacy of California State Parks because our two organizations share a similar mission – to protect our state’s spectacular natural resources and, at the same time, connect people to the natural world. We believe that this initiative gives Californians an opportunity to embrace our parks as the treasures that they are.

California’s 278 state parks, which include state beaches and state historic parks, are priceless public assets and a vital legacy for our children and future generations. But budget cuts have starved state parks, causing them to accumulate a backlog of more than $1 billion in needed maintenance and repairs. Roofs and sewage systems leak, restrooms are not cleaned regularly, bridges have collapsed, trails are washed out, campgrounds and visitor centers are shuttered and buildings and structures throughout the system are badly deteriorated. Thousands of scenic acres are closed to the public because of reductions in park rangers, and crime has more than doubled. Destruction and vandalism of the parks themselves has grown fourfold, and beachgoers are often unprotected because of decreases in lifeguards.