More Parks Likely to Seek Private Help as State Cutbacks Continue

As California state parks seek out nonprofit partners under a new law that makes it easier to forge such public-private operating pacts, strapped parks nationwide are looking for ways to stay open amid accelerating budget cuts, Stateline reports.

The bill, signed last week by California Gov. Jerry Brown, would allow up to 20 state parks to team up with nonprofits, but the measure is expected to recoup relatively little of the slashed funds that put some 70 California sites at risk of closure.

Similar scenarios are playing out across the country. New York officials are mulling a plan to close nearly a quarter of 169 state parks. Oklahoma and Pennsylvania are considering ways to hire organizations to supervise park operations.

In Arizona, which eliminated general funds for state parks two years ago, 14 financially vulnerable sites have been kept open thanks to a collective $820,000 in contributions by nonprofit groups and local communities, according to The Arizona Republic.