Parks to Stay Open?

Greetings,

As many of you know, Governor Schwarzenegger has decided to keep all our parks open, which is good news. The bad news is that State Parks are now faced with how to do this without any additional funding and less staff, including lifeguards. We are still looking at seasonal and mid-week closures and reduced services, so in reality, not much has changed. I keep saying that our help is needed more then ever and now that statement has again taken on new meaning. With less staff, our organization and dedicated volunteers will be called upon to do more.

It's time for Stewards to launch a more focused campaign to raise money to help restore the services that will be reduced in the months ahead. Our Old Grove Festival this past weekend provided us with a good start.

• We will begin with making sure we have the resources needed to make reservations for over 5,000 school children each year to visit our State Parks and use them as their outdoor classroom. Many of these children are provided with docent-led environmental education programs that inspire them to be good stewards of our natural and cultural resources. If the park areas that we use for these programs are closed we will need to bring in portable restrooms and possibly water in order to allow schools access to these areas.

• Another priority will be to continue recruiting the volunteers needed to keep our other public education and stewardship programs going. This will be accomplished by way of our very popular Docent and Community Education Program. Again, if field seminars take place in closed park areas, Stewards will provide the services that are needed. Besides Whale Watchers, Seal Watchers, Tidepool Naturalists, Tour Guides, Visitor Center staffers and our stewardship volunteers, we will need our volunteers to patrol closed park areas to ensure they are not being used for illegal purposes.

• Stewards will also follow the lead of the California State Parks Foundation and continue to advocate for the State Park Access Pass (SPAP), a $15 surcharge added to our vehicle license fee, which will provide free day-use in our State Parks. If polling numbers indicate success in the next month or so, we will begin collecting signatures to get this initiative on the ballot in November of 2010.

• We are also very close to raising the funds needed to construct a new bridge on Willow Creek Road, which will allow fish passage again in the Willow Creek watershed, a high priority stream for anadromous fish. This project has many agency partners who have been working with Stewards and State Parks to realize this dream since 2001.

Grant funds, fundraising events, a new business partnership program and your contributions will help Stewards realize these goals.

Without your help we will need to reduce staff hours and institute salary reductions. With the recession, our donations are down this year and our fundraising events have not raised the funds needed for Stewards to operate at optimum capacity. We operate with a very modest budget and we pride ourselves on efficiency but we won't be able to continue providing 100% services without additional funds.

We are now asking for your support. Please consider doing the following:

• Make a donation to Stewards. Click this link to our donation page.
• Donate to our upcoming online auction. Email me if you have something to donate and I will send you the link to enter your donation online.

Your continued support means so much to us and we thank you.

Michele Luna

Old Grove Festival

There were many memorable moments at our 3-day Old Grove Festival this past weekend, which was also our grand finale weekend for the 75th Anniversary of Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve.

The Chanticleer concert was magical, seeing the horse and carriage moving through the park on Saturday with adults and children was exciting, kids making music with aluminum cans, dancing to the Thugz, seeing Maria Muldaur and her Garden of Joy Jug Band, singing God Bless America to commemorate the theater dedication 73 years ago to the day, our Big Band show on Sunday, complete with some great swing dancing and finally enjoying the great food prepared for the Great Mexican Feast. These are some of the highlights for me.

This wonderful event could not have happened without the 105 volunteers who signed up to assist us. Everyone did an excellent job, especially our volunteer crew leads who went above and beyond in providing leadership for this event. I heard from many of the volunteers that they really enjoyed the weekend and want to do it again. I also want to thank the Stewards Board of Directors and State Parks staff who also supported the event and were so easy to work with. In addition, I want to thank our staff Annie Cresswell, Tom McElwee, Ruby Herrick, and Nik our great intern.

Finally, I want to list our top three sponsors, Russian River Getaways,
PG & E and Russian River Rec and Park and also thanks the many, many sponsors who provided funding, in-kind services and donated product for the event.

Our event photography, Greg Hayes, should have some photos of the event soon. I will let you know when they can be viewed on our website or Facebook Fan page.

Annual Membership Meeting & Potluck Picnic
Saturday, October 24, 2009 - Mark you Calendar

Our Annual Membership Meeting and Potluck Picnic will take place at Armstrong Redwoods on October 24th. A walk will begin at 10:00 am and the picnic will begin at Noon. More details to follow.

Donate,
Become a Member
Your support is needed now more then ever as we fight to keep our State Parks accessible year round to all of us who
love them so dearly.

Michele Luna, Executive Director
Stewards of the Coast and Redwoods