State Parks Receive NPS Aid

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

Severe cutbacks and reduced services at Malibu area state parks have been averted—at least for now—thanks to a $939,169 grant from the National Park Service.
The grant, announced on Nov. 20, is calculated to restore funding at state parks in the Santa Monica Mountains to last year’s levels—before the state budget crisis let to radical cuts to state parks.
The state operates seven parks in the Santa Monica Mountains, including Leo Carrillo, Point Dume State Beach and Malibu Lagoon within the boundaries of Malibu. The area, frequently described as the largest urban wilderness in the country, has up to 4 million visitors annually. Park proponents and area residents have feared that cutbacks at the parks could result in increased wildfire, vandalism and create serious safety risks.
“The purpose of the grant is to sustain the same level of service the state parks provided last year, before the budget cuts,” Woody Smeck, superintendent of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, told the Malibu Surfside News.
“The NPS is not only acting to benefit users of the state parks,” Smeck said. “We’re really investing in our own interest. NPS is the nearest emergency responder and provider of park programs. If any of these units had closed or partly closed the NPS would have the burden of emergency services such as search and rescue. It would fall on NPS staff.”
“Wildfire is a very serious concern,” Smeck continued, explaining that the interconnecting patchwork of federal, state and private lands in the SMMNRA means that boundaries are porous and closures would be impossible to secure or police, creating serious safety concerns.
“As a result of this grant, the public should experience no reduction in services or operating hours,” a press release stated.
“The grant is a temporary remedy. It’s a stopgap measure for this year,” Smeck said, “but we’re ecstatic about it.”