Over the past few months, hundreds of volunteers across California have been collecting signatures to help qualify the State Parks & Wildlife Conservation Trust Fund Act for the November ballot. As we head into the final weeks of signature gathering (it ends on April 15), volunteers will be ramping up their efforts to ensure the campaign reaches its goal of collecting at least 710,000 signatures! We want to again thank everyone 
who has participated in the signature drive. Your hard work and dedication to the initiative has been incredible.
The State Parks & Wildlife Conservation Trust Fund Act is continuing to gain endorsements from all over California. Recent endorsements include the County of Mendocino, California Outdoor Heritage Alliance, Patagonia, and many, many more. If you want to see a complete list of endorsers, and learn more about this important effort and what you can do, visit the initiative’s website.
Again, thanks to all of you amazing volunteers, and to everyone else supporting the initiative in any way you can. Happy Spring, and don’t forget to visit your favorite state park soon!
40th Anniversary of Earth Day Next Month
This April 17th, CSPF and presenting sponsor Pacific Gas and Electric Company, are proud to announce another Earth Day collaboration in our state parks. This is Earth Day's 40th Anniversary, so come out to celebrate and volunteer at a state park near you with friends and family. You can help plant trees, restore trails and wildlife habitat, or clean up beaches and park lands. A few parks already have sufficient volunteer, but many others are still open. To find out where there is an event near you and to sign up, please visit our website.
Last month, CSPF officially kicked off the Park Excellence Project to examine what excellence means for California’s state parks and how it can best be achieved.
We launched a web survey asking Californians what should be the primary purpose of California’s state park system, what programs, services, resources, activities or amenities should be offered, and more. The web survey closed yesterday and we received over 6,000 responses! Thank you to everyone that took the time to tell us your thoughts, wishes, hopes and ideas.
Along, with our project partners at Save the Redwoods League, CSPF will continue collecting perspectives, opinions and thoughts from a diverse selection of stakeholder groups for a report that will provide a statewide perspective on the future of California state parks. The report will be published and electronically available in late summer 2010. To find out more about this project, and to get updates, visit the Park Excellence page on our website.
Bid on a Subaru 2010 Outback and Help Parks
CSPF will auction a new 2010 Subaru 2.5i Outback premium sport utility vehicle, thanks to the generosity of Subaru. Subaru became a Proud Partner of the California State Parks in 2009. The auction will take place on Ebay starting April 17 and run for one week. You will be able to link to the auction through our website. Thanks and Happy Bidding!
The Hidden Stories Series is one of our newest programs. It is aimed at telling the stories of varying groups that have contributed to California’s rich history in its 278 magnificent state parks.
The Series is designed to be implemented over a two year cycle: in year #1, a conference is held that focuses on a particular group’s stories; in year #2, programmatic recommendations stemming from the conference are launched. In short, over the two-year cycle, hidden stories are discovered, told and thereby uncovered and shared with the public. To learn more, visit our Hidden Stories pages.
Personalized Picnic Table Program
With an ever-increasing number of visitors each year, our state parks need hundreds of picnic tables. Personalizing and placing a picnic table is a wonderful way to remember a loved one or something special like a child or grandchild’s birth.
Or, you can follow the lead of Rodrigo and Rebecca Santamarina who purchased one to celebrate their marriage and had it placed at Tomales Bay State Park! For a tax-deductible gift of $1,500 you can donate a personalized redwood picnic table to one of our state parks. CSPF works with the Sonoma County Probation Camp (SCPC) to produce the tables. SCPC has been making State Parks products for more than 25 years. Established in 1955, the SCPC is a short-term correctional and vocational treatment facility for 16 to 18 year old males.
By participating in the Personalized Park Table Program, you will help three worthy entities: California State Parks, the SCPC, and of course CSPF! For more information, please contact Bonnie Davis, bonnie@calparks.org.
Pictured above: Rodrigo & Rebecca Santamarina
Jack London State Historic Park’s 50th Anniversary
Jack London State Historic Park is celebrating its 50th Anniversary! Numerous events have been planned to commemorate the history and beauty of this 1,500-acre jewel. Check out there website for more information. Then, this September, return to the park and enjoy CSPF’s Gala Event! (Keep your eyes on our website for Gala details coming soon.)
GreatNonProfits Wants Your Review!
GreatNonprofits is the leading website that allows you to find, review, and share information about nonprofits. For the month of April they want to know what you think about CSPF. Take a minute and write a review! If we receive favorable reviews (and we certainly hope we do!), we’ll be rewarded with prominent mention on GuideStar and Global Exchange and thereby further our efforts to Save State Parks!
CSPF is looking for members of the education community to help us reach out to teachers, schools, parent groups, and other education outlets about our park excellence project, the state parks initiative, and the benefits of the state park system.
If you’re a teacher or administrator, or affiliated with an educational institution or group in your community, please let us know! We’d love to get your input on ways we can help connect California’s education community to California’s state parks. Please contact us at advocacy@calparks.org
Photo @ 2009 California State Parks
Come celebrate the Grand Opening of the EcoCenter at Heron’s Head Park, San Francisco Bay Area’s first environmental justice education center.
On April 18th, Literacy for Environmental Justice (LEJ), in conjunction with Sunday Streets, is teaming up to offer interactive tours of the Bayview Hunters Point community’s new EcoCenter led by LEJ youth, a showcase of talent, great raffle prizes, bird tours, and much much more. For more information, visit their website, or contact Sarah Alexander communications@lejyouth.org.
