Grants, land at risk if California parks close

July 2, 2009

Peter Fimrite, San Francisco Chronicle
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Excerpts:

Service could seize land in six parks, including Angel Island, if the state goes through with a proposal to close 219 state parks, officials said Wednesday.

… Jon Jarvis, the Pacific regional director of the National Park Service, sent a letter to Schwarzenegger on June 8 warning him that the federal government could take back closed parks that were given to California under the Federal Lands and Parks Program.

The program, established in 1949, gives surplus land to states under the condition that the land is kept open to the public for recreational use.

…Jarvis said federal funding under the Land and Water Conservation Fund would also be jeopardized.