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State Parks Funding Cuts Not All Bad?
letter from David Daniels, Berkeley — published January 01, 2010
I enjoy Bay Nature's focused reporting about our local natural areas. I too rely on the public lands entrusted to the East Bay Regional Park District to keep a personal connection with the land. When I moved here from Montana four years ago, regional parks and shorelines and Point Reyes became my refuge from the urban jungle.
I take exception, however, to publisher David Loeb's lament over funding cuts to state parks. I embrace an ethic of wilderness and so believe funding cuts may actually preserve our public lands better than full funding. California land management agencies seem bent on providing amenities that detract from wilderness values--paved parking lots, flush toilets, visitor centers, and reams of regulations. These "improvements" waste tax money, sustain bureaucracy, and erode an ethic of natural undisturbed beauty.
The visionaries who created the East Bay park system deserve our gratitude. We can further their vision by resisting the urge to turn public lands into amusement parks or research laboratories. All people deserve access to the natural landscapes highlighted by Bay Nature. Our tax dollars would be better spent purchasing private lands or securing easements.
Write us at letters@baynature.org.
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