Parks could revert to federal control

SACRAMENTO, July 6 (UPI) -- The federal government could assume control of six California parks from San Francisco to Mexico if the state closes them to save money, authorities said.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed indefinitely closing 220 state parks, six of them former federal properties, including Angel Island in San Francisco Bay, Point Sur State Historic Park in coastal Big Sur, Point Mugu State Park near Malibu, Fort Ord Dunes near Monterey, Border Fields beach along the Mexican border and the top of Mount Diablo east of San Francisco.

Unless states keep former federal lands open, the properties by law revert to the control of federal government, Jon Jarvis, regional director of the National Park Service said.

Schwarzenegger wants to close at least 80 percent of California's state park system for a savings of $143 million. That would eliminate public access to 30 percent of the California coastline, Elizabeth Goldstein, president of the California State Parks Foundation, told The Los Angeles Times in a story published Monday.

"And there's a direct connection between parks and the economic viability of communities near parks," Goldstein said. "We take this threat very seriously until it's off the table."