Mission: The Valley Women’s Club is dedicated to community action, awareness and leadership in environmental, educational, social, and political concerns that affect the health and welfare of the San Lorenzo Valley and our community.
Mission: The Valley Women’s Club is dedicated to community action, awareness and leadership in environmental, educational, social, and political concerns that affect the health and welfare of the San Lorenzo Valley and our community.
Environmental CommitteeFall 2007 State Senator Joe Simitian announced that he plans a series of visits to California State Parks in his district "to see firsthand the impact of budget cuts on our state parks." He recently visited Castle Rock State Park in the Santa Cruz Mountains, where he met with a park official to discuss the state's limited funding for parks and the impact on staffing, maintenance, and other needs. After the briefing, Simitian spent the afternoon hiking in Castle Rock State Park along with his wife, Mary Hughes. Simitian plans to visit state parks in each of the three counties in his district, which includes portions of San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz counties. In the coming weeks, Simitian will also be visiting Castle Rock State Park in Santa Cruz County features forests of redwoods, Douglas firs, and madrones, as well as canyons and rock formations popular with rock climbers. Thirty-two miles of hiking and horse trails link Castle Rock to neighboring Big Basin Redwoods State Park and the Pacific Coast. "I have great memories of rock climbing at Castle Rock as a teenager," said Simitian, "and I look forward to getting out of the Capitol. Besides, I need the exercise." The 2006-7 budget included $603 million for California's parks, but the Administration's 2007-8 proposed budget this year provides only $422 million, a 30% decrease in funding. "Year after year," said Simitian, "our State Parks have borne the brunt of our struggle to balance the state budget. This longstanding neglect of state parklands has gotten to the point where we have a billion dollar backlog of maintenance and repair." "The annual cost to maintain the system is about $185 million a year," said Simitian, "but the state budget’s just $67 million a year, which means that with every passing year the problem gets more than $100 million worse. Worse still, the State's failure to reverse this trend means the situation deteriorates. Small problems become big problems - with price tags to match - adding even more to the billion dollar backlog." For more information, visit www.senatorsimitian.com.
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