Federal, state and local functionaries were all smiles at the Grand Opening of Ft. Ord Dunes State Park a couple of months ago, but the feds are now threatening to take the land back if the state doesn’t keep the park open.
As the “starve the beast” wing of the Republican Party continues its strangulation of state government, and the pointless closure of most of California’s State Parks moves closer to reality, the federal government has begun pointing out that some California parks sit on land donated to the state by the feds on condition that the state open the land to the public as parks. If the state goes back on the deal by closing the parks, say the feds, they may just take the land back.
Two local State Parks in this category are Pt. Sur and the newly opened Ft. Ord Dunes State Park. We don’t know whether the state will go through with closing the parks, or how long it will take the feds to act, if they do, but it could get interesting.
Which federal agency would manage these lands? Would the feds return the parks to the state again when, and if, sanity returns in Sacramento? How would federal management affect public access?
According to the San Jose Mercury, the parks “would likely be transferred as surplus property to the federal government and be offered to federal agencies, universities, even private developers.”
Stay tuned …
Xasáuan Today 