The California coast is a magnet for private investment in part because its natural treasures are unique and spectacular. You can find many of these treasures in our state parks. Yet today, many parks are in a sorry state, with facilities in disrepair and a noticeable scarcity of rangers and maintenance crews.

It’s hard to overstate the value of California’s state parks. They protect sand dunes, pygmy forests, coastal prairies, and other ecological resources of a variety and richness found in no other state, as well as significant cultural and historical sites. They attract between 70 and 80 million visitors a year, and these visitors spend billions in nearby communities and support over 100,000 jobs statewide.

Yet because of a dearth of public investment, the state’s 1.5-million-acre park system--an irreplaceable public asset and essential part of the state’s infrastructure--is in grave jeopardy.

It doesn’t take much searching to see what’s amiss. In Angel Island State Park and Benicia Capitol Park, for example, historic buildings are deteriorating, vacant, boarded up. Along the coast, parklands acquired years ago still lack basic facilities. Rangers are rarely sighted because their ranks have thinned. Some parks are almost incognito.

Driving south from Monterey, as you enter the stunning coastline of Big Sur, you might stop at a gravel pull-out to admire the view of the offshore Lobos Rocks and not even realize that you’re standing in Garrapata State Park, created three decades ago along four miles of this world-renowned shoreline. This park has virtually no visitor-serving facilities. Trails overgrown with poison oak that lead to the bluff’s edge may be your only clue that you are on public land. Below the bluffs, Garrapata Beach--the main attraction and the only large, publicly accessible sandy beach within miles--has no restroom, not even a pit toilet.

In San Luis Obispo County, on Estero Bluffs, north of the little beach town of Cayucos, miles of oceanfront land have been acquired by the State Parks Department since 2000 but not even roadside parking has been constructed. North of Monterey, at Marina State Beach, a boardwalk through rolling dunes was built years ago to accommodate wheelchairs, but it has buckled, and part of it is covered with sand. Anything built on dunes and exposed to salt and wind requires constant maintenance, but State Parks has a huge maintenance backlog. It needs about $900 million to catch up on repairs, according to the California State Parks Foundation.

“Deferred maintenance is like car maintenance; you can save $50 by not doing a regular oil change, but it will end up costing you more in the long run,” observed Gail Sevrens, president of the California State Park Rangers Association. (Many park employees interviewed for this article while off duty declined to be identified by their job titles and made clear that they were not speaking officially for State Parks.)

When Nobody Is Watching
Perhaps more serious than deteriorated structures or missing park facilities, however, is the dire shortage of park staff. Since 2000, the number of State Parks personnel has remained nearly the same, about 3,000, while the state’s population has grown by 3.8 million and the park system has increased in size by nearly 100,000 acres. In essence, State Parks is called on to manage a large and growing system of world-class parks and protect our natural and cultural heritage while depending on fixed or even declining staff.

There are fewer California state park rangers and lifeguards in the field now than there are state parks. As of 2005, a mere 250 rangers and lifeguards were spread across the 278 units that make up the California state park system. Up to 130 positions were vacant, while some rangers and lifeguards hold administrative and supervisory positions rather than field assignments.

“In some parks where there used to be eight rangers, now there are maybe only two,” said Sevrens. Ten years ago, State Parks had nearly twice as many rangers and lifeguards as it does now, said Richard Bergstresser, chapter director of the State Parks Peace Officers Association of California (SPPOAC).

The field staff shortage affects visitors’ experience. “If only one ranger is on duty in a park, there can’t be a campfire program,” Sevrens said, because “if a law enforcement issue comes up, the ranger would have to stop the program.”

“During the summer of 2003,” Bergstresser recalled, “we were so short-staffed I was the only ranger from Eureka to Usal Beach [in Sinkyone Wilderness State Park, more than 100 miles away by road], with 700 campsites and 5,000 to 8,000 visitors. One of those days I had a Code Three [emergency] call and drove over one hour to near Bear Harbor. A hiker had a broken ankle. That left no one available for the rest of the area.”

In a recent incident at Sonoma Coast State Beach, a ranger was dispatched in pursuit of a stolen vehicle, Bergstrasser said. “When there’s a pursuit, a supervisor must be on duty, at least on the radio. The nearest on-duty supervisor that day was at Millerton Lake, near Fresno [250 miles away]. Someone from so far away wouldn’t be familiar with the area in Sonoma Coast State Beach.”

Bill Kortum, a longtime coastal activist, recalled that during a volunteer trail building project on the Sonoma County coast, “The ranger showed up with all the [work] equipment, but he had a radio, too. Within 15 minutes he was called away to cure some fracas elsewhere. We’re stretching these rangers too thin.”

Rangers have traditionally played an important role in promoting stewardship and educating people, especially campers, about natural features, plants, animals, and appropriate behavior. Now, visitors may encounter only a park aide collecting an entrance fee or an occasional volunteer docent.

The lack of parks personnel not only affects people, it also allows harm to be inflicted on natural resources. Outright theft and vandalism happen with impunity if nobody is on guard. “Rangers find marijuana farms and mountain-bike damage, and archaeological sites have been looted,” said Sevrens. “Maybe four years ago, the burials of sailors were looted on the San Mateo coast before archaeologists were able to come along.” At Tolowa Dunes State Park, near Lake Earl in Del Norte County, there is a long history of illegal off-road vehicle use, with damage to sand dunes and vegetation. “It’s difficult to police with only one officer,” Bergstresser said.

In Northern California’s redwood state parks, “people will go carve off shingles [from redwood trees or fallen logs] and drive away in the night with a pickup-truck load worth several hundred dollars,” Bergstrasser said. “Rangers are there to protect the people from the park, the park from the people, and the people from the people. We’re not doing so well on the second one.”

A Long Downward Slide
“This is a long-term downward trajectory,” said State Parks Director Ruth Coleman, when asked about the shortage of operating funds for the parks. “Operations spending per visitor has declined steadily since the early 1980s,” she said, adding that under Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger spending has been modestly higher than it was under Gray Davis.

The State Parks Department operating funds budget is $466 million. It needs roughly $200 million more than the $382 million it now expects for 2007-08, according to Traci Verardo, the California State Parks Foundation’s legislative and policy director, “just to support what exists in the parks now: adequate restrooms, staffing, cataloging of cultural resources, and so on.” That will not fund more rangers and lifeguards.To fill in for budget shortages, State Parks has drawn heavily on volunteers and nonprofit cooperating organizations to help run the park system. Nearly one million hours of volunteer time supported park operations in 2005. Volunteers staff visitor centers, serve as camp hosts, maintain trails, and lead nature walks. Nonprofit cooperating associations raise funds for educational programs and special events. But no matter how dedicated and knowledgeable the volunteers, and how creative the other efforts, they can not fill many of the gaps left by lack of professional staff. Nor can they make up for insufficient funds from Sacramento.

At this time, it appears that most long-delayed maintenance needs will continue to be deferred. In his 2007 State of the State address, the governor committed to work with the Legislature to rebuild the state’s infrastructure. He did not mention state parks infrastructure, however. Although a one-time augmentation of $250 million for deferred maintenance was in the 2006-07 state budget signed by the governor, the proposed 2007-08 budget would take away $160 million of this approved amount, according to the State Parks Foundation.

Proposition 84, approved by voters in November 2006, allocated $400 million for park needs, including acquisition, development, and restoration. “We got $400 million, and this year [2006-07] we are spending $90 million, mostly for wastewater infrastructure,” said Coleman. At this writing, only a few improvements are proposed for the 2007-08 budget year, including new day-use facilities at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park and the new campground at Crystal Cove State Park. Also coming soon at the new Fort Ord Dunes State Park in Monterey County will be public access to a beach long off-limits as part of a military base. The outlook for the rest of the deferred, as well as ongoing, maintenance needs is bleak.

Income-Generating Options
Could more money or services be generated for State Parks from other sources, such as its concessions? More than 190 concession contracts in the 278 park units contribute a total of over $10 million a year in rents, with about $7 million of that coming from the 76 coastal parks. Most concessionaires are small businesses. They provide horseback-riding tours at Andrew Molera State Park in Big Sur, yellow beach umbrella and bicycle rentals at San Buenaventura State Beach in Ventura County, and hot showers at Leo Carrillo State Park north of Santa Monica and at MacKerricher State Park in Mendocino County.

The two biggest and most lucrative concessions--Asilomar Conference Grounds at Asilomar State Beach, and many of the shops and restaurants at Old Town San Diego State Historic Park--are operated by Delaware North Company, one of the largest privately held firms in the United States. Delaware North runs gaming enterprises and holds concessions in airports and convention centers, as well as in Yosemite National Park and other parks. It does not disclose its earnings, other than to report a “more-than-30-percent increase in the last few years alone.” Is this the best deal for State Parks?

Within the past year, for the first time, State Parks signed two contracts with nonprofit organizations. Unlike the other concessionaires, which pay a set amount of rent and keep any profits, these two will plow funds back into the parks where they operate. The first is the Crystal Cove Alliance, which rents out restored beach cottages to overnight visitors at Crystal Cove State Park in Orange County. The second is the Point Cabrillo Lightkeeper’s Association, which manages the Lighthouse Inn at Point Cabrillo in Mendocino County.

At Crystal Cove, a clutch of unique historic beach cottages lies at the base of a bluff, out of sight of the Coast Highway and, seemingly, of 21st-century southern California. During minus tides, a rocky reef and tidepools are exposed on the nearby beach. Strangely shaped circular rock formations are scattered across the sand.

Laura Davick grew up here; her parents met at the cove beach and later settled in one of the cottages, most of them built between the 1920s and 1940s. In 1979, the State acquired Crystal Cove State Park, but long-term leases kept the cottages in private hands until 2001. Today Davick runs the first partnership between State Parks and a revenue-generating, but nonprofit, concessionaire. Under a contract signed in May 2006, the Crystal Cove Alliance rents out 14 of the beach cottages, and also manages the Beachcomber Café and Crystal Cove Shake Shack and interpretive store.

“We’re doing really well,” said Davick, “and $150,000 in profit from the park interpretive store this year will go into restoration in the park.” The Alliance pays rent based on a percentage of gross receipts, some of which are also allotted toward future improvements. “So far, $400,000 has gone into the facilities improvement account,” said Davick. Any proceeds that remain after paying rents and costs go toward the Alliance’s long-term goal to restore the remaining beach cottages.

The cottages have been phenomenally popular. “We had 100,000 hits on the website the first day,” said Parks Director Coleman. “A month at a time is booked, and within minutes they are all gone.” Rates start at $31 per night for one person in one of the dorm-style cottages; the two-bedroom Painter’s Cottage sleeps four to nine people and rents for $179 to $334 (prices effective July 1, 2007). These rates are moderate compared to $20 to $35 family campsites at Orange County’s Doheny State Beach and a $795 ocean-view room at Laguna Beach’s Montage Resort.

Could the Alliance be a model for other state parks? “It requires a certain level of expertise,” Davick said, “but there are certainly other parks where this model could be used.” The Alliance was born out of opposition to an earlier State Parks plan to convert the 46 historic cottages at the cove into 73 luxury resort units. “We felt that would be a terrible precedent for state parks,” said Davick.

Under a more recent--and controversial--contract, State Parks approved the conversion of a historic lighthouse keeper’s house on Point Cabrillo, in Mendocino County, into a bed and breakfast inn that now advertises rooms starting at $177 a night. Handicapped-accessible rooms go for $267. The inn is managed by the Point Cabrillo Lightkeepers’ Association. The Coastal Conservancy spent nearly $12 million over 12 years to acquire the Point Cabrillo headland and restore historic structures and habitat, then turn the property over to State Parks. Earlier visions were of more affordable accomodations, including a hostel and campground.

Could State Parks raise money for upkeep of other parks and historic structures if it used other historic buildings for overnight accommodations, perhaps with nonprofit organizations as concessionaires? According to Ruth Coleman, such opportunities are limited, “but we’re always on the lookout for more.” How the public is served may depend on whether the model set at Crystal Cove or at Point Cabrillo is emulated.

One potential opportunity may exist in Topanga State Park, in Los Angeles. At the mouth of Topanga Creek, a scruffy collection of old motel units and low-end roadside businesses face the ocean, empty. Los Angeles District Superintendent Ron Schafer said he plans to renovate the units as moderate-cost overnight accommodations. “This project is my number-one priority for Proposition 84 funds,” he said.

What’s Next for Parks?
To protect irreplaceable resources and to accommodate a growing population, the state park system needs to grow. Voters have approved a series of bond issues for state parks, clearly signaling their commitment. But occasional bond issues do not pay the monthly bills, nor have they eliminated the backlog on upkeep. The question remains: can state government adequately support the system that the people of the state, over generations, have worked for, volunteered for, paid for, and that they continue to cherish and enjoy?

“There needs to be a blend of user fees, along with government funds and support from the private sector and nonprofit sector,” said Coleman. She noted that some institutions, such as public universities, have endowments. “In the 1940s and 1950s, the state’s oil revenues supported the parks’ operation,” she said. “Tidelands oil revenues were always intended to be used for natural resources.” Now those funds are directed into the General Fund, which supports all kinds of agencies, instead of just those concerned with natural resources. In fiscal year 2005-06, the Department of Social Services got $8.7 billion from the General Fund, the Department of Corrections got $7.6 billion, the University of California got $2.8 billion, and State Parks got $101 million--1.33 percent of Corrections’ share.

Recognizing that our park system desperately needs assistance, the Parks Foundation convened a Fiscal Sustainability Task Force in July 2005. “We have been working with stakeholders including nonprofits that support various state parks, for-profit concessionaires, land trust partners, and think tank-type participants,” said Traci Verardo. “It has been a new event, to get all these together in the same room, which really hasn’t happened before.” A report by the task force is expected soon.

Of California’s total area, 1.5 percent, or some 1.5 million acres of land, belong to the people in the form of state parks. In most of these parks, including Garrapata State Park, the most precious asset is the value of the natural resources--the quiet, the plants and animals, and the relatively wild setting--and nothing but the most basic facilities, such as water supply and toilets, are needed. But other parks are well-suited to an expansion of recreational offerings.

The Sierra Club’s Mark Massara envisions a day when some park, such as El Capitán State Beach in Santa Barbara County, for instance, will offer more activities, more choices, more resource protection, and less pavement. “Why don’t we sell organic foods in the park store?” he asked. “Why not have live music on Friday nights?” Indeed, why not sparkling restrooms, solar panels on the roof of a “green” visitor center, camping opportunities both plain and fancy, state-of-the-art native plant restoration projects, naturalist-led walks, and campfire programs for all? California’s diverse population needs to be served in diverse ways at parks. In a state known as a fountain of creativity and an environmental leader, our state parks deserve to be models of their kind.

Steve Scholl wrote and edited the first two volumes of the California Coastal Commission’s Experience the California Coast guidebook series and is working on the third volume. He is a member of the California State Parks Foundation.

This article is abridged. For the complete article see the print edition of Coast & Ocean.