As you cross over the bridge into Henry Cowell State Park in Felton, the sycamores are standing stately but undressed while their fallen leaves compost on the forest floor. During the winter, deciduous trees live in a state of dormancy.

But farther up, hidden behind a wall of conifers, are the buildings of California State Parks’ officials who are working around the clock trying to figure out how to save parks and beaches in Santa Cruz County.

“I’m not an expert on closing parks. That’s not why I took this job,” said District Superintendent Chet Bardo, whose authority runs from the San Francisco county line down to the Pajaro River. “My whole career has been spent on how to turn a dime into something else. How do you use volunteers? Partners? Santa Cruz District has one of the largest volunteer bases in the State Park system. It’s always been about keeping parks open, keeping the mission alive.”

Bardo shakes his head in disbelief.

“We’ve been good at deferred maintenance, but I know where the bad roofs are. We worked really hard for a long time to not let that be seen, but that’s no longer an option. I’ve spent a whole career doing that. I spent 30 years trying to figure out how to run [the parks] on a shoe string and now I’ve got to figure out how to close them,” Bardo said.

On Jan. 5, Gov. Jerry Brown released the fiscal year 2012-13 state budget. Not only is he proposing to close 70 state parks and beaches by July 1, he is also considering laying off all state lifeguards and 20 percent of park rangers.

When Minnesota did something similar and closed its state parks last summer because of budget problems, there were immediate problems with people entering and vandalizing closed parks.

“So we’re looking at a caretaker role for the parks we have to close,” Bardo said. “We’re looking for partners that want to come in and help us with our mission. There are two things I know and one thing I don’t know. I don’t know how to close parks. The two things I know are that people love their parks and I can’t do it alone. This is going to take a village.”

Mountain Parks Foundation has funded the nature education and enrichment programs offered at Henry Cowell and Big Basin Redwoods state parks for years and those parks are not on the closure list.

Recently, Brown signed a bill that allows nonprofits to take over operations of parks marked for closure. Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks Foundation has stepped up to take over the financing and operation of the Mission Historical State Park, which houses the oldest building in the
county.

Slated for closure, Twin Lakes State Beach and Castle Rock are porous, meaning people cannot be stopped from entering. However, the bathrooms will not be operating and trashcans will not be provided. Non-profits, like Save Our Shores, are looking for ways to support the two parks but need more funding.

“Our director is always talking about finding partners, but it’s a very difficult thing to do now with cities and counties because of the downturn in the economy. There aren’t as many grants that are available and donors aren’t donating,” Bardo said.

How can the public help?

“All our visitors need to become engaged. If they see litter, they need to pick it up. Looking at long-time solutions, I need people to understand the severity of our problem and why we need to partner with nonprofits, towns, the county and private corporations, like REI, and even concessionaires,” Bardo said. “But I’m an eternal optimist. If we can keep parks and beaches nice, people will treat them with respect, but if we can’t, will the opposite hold true? So, what can we do to keep that from tipping?”